Nikolina Nikoleskis new production featuring

classical and popular arts in Delhi today PAGE 2

Ashish Avikunthak tries not to belong either to

the film or the art world PAGE 3

Kabhe Kabhie changed the

way people romanced PAGE 4

DELHI FRIDAY APRIL 17, 2015

CALENDAR

The Forbidden
Kingdom
Legendary martial artists
Jackie Chan and Jet Li came
together on screen for the
first time in this Kung-Fu
classic. An American teenager who is obsessed with
Kung-Fu makes an extraordinary discovery in a Chinatown pawnshop - the stick
weapon of the warrior, the
Monkey King. April 17, Friday, 9 p.m. SONY PIX

The Karate Kid

When 12-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to
China along with his mother
(Taraji P. Henson) he has a
hard time making friends.
But soon he makes a connection with his classmate Mei
Ying and develops a crush
until cultural differences
make such a friendship impossible. April 18, Saturday,
8 p.m., SONY PIX

The Hunger Games:

Catching Fire
Katniss Everdeen returns
home safely after winning
the 74th Annual Hunger
Games along with fellow
tribute Peeta Mellark. Katniss senses that a rebellion
against the oppressive Capitol is simmering through the
districts.
April 19, Sunday, HBO

Breaking the barriers

As Margarita With A Straw tries to depict the life of an ordinary disabled person, Anuj Kumar speaks to
director Shonali Bose and lead actor Kalki Koechlin.

isabled peopled
are either
mocked at or
are treated as
monks in
society and cinema. For all
the corporate social
responsibility, how often do
we nd a visually impaired
model selling a moisturiser?
What if a girl with cerebral
palsy is sitting next to you in
a bar sipping a heady cocktail
with her visually impaired
female partner. This is the
image that director Shonali
Bose is trying to conjure up
with Margarita With A
Straw. She is normalising
what is perceived as
abnormal for centuries. The
National Award winning
director found the
inspiration at home. She is
the cousin of disability rights
crusader Malini Chib, who
outgrew the limitations that
cerebral palsy causes.
When we were teenagers
I used to think that she is
more romantic than me.
Years later when we met the
rst thing she said to me was
that she is still yearning for
love and companionship.
Malinis desire stayed with
Shonali and when she started
looking for the subject for
her next work Malinis
yearning recurred to her.
Initially, I felt there is no
screenplay there but slowly
things started falling in place.
Certain things we take for
granted. Like at 40 we dont
expect women to talk about
physical desires or
companionship. You outgrow
them but here was she still
feeling unfullled. It set me
thinking that Malini had the
resources and family
support. What about an
ordinary girl?
Slowly Laila took shape; a
disabled teenager who like
any other girl her age is
struggling to come to terms

AS REAL AS IT GETS
Kalki Koechlin in
Margarita With a
Straw; (Below) Shonali
Bose

to her sexual desire. In our

lms disabled people are
either treated with pity and
sympathy or they are shown
as some sort of achiever to
eke out a response, see he or
she achieved so much despite

disability. I have no problem

with that. In fact as Laila is
good at music initially I
thought of presenting her a
prodigy who goes on to
become an A.R. Rahman but
I resisted all that because I
wanted to capture the life of

When Laila shares her

crush on a boy for the
first time with her
mother, she is shaken.
Revathy, a fine actress
that she is, manages to
bring out the three
emotions at one time
without saying a single
word
Z

an ordinary disabled person.

Then there was a pull to
show the external difficulties
that a disabled person comes
across in daily life like
crossing the street and the
like. But as I came across
more and more such people,
I realised that they have
learnt to live with it. So Laila
is in control of her life and
after a couple of scenes you
will forget that this is the
story of a girl in a wheelchair
as she is quite a grey
character. Kalki Koechlin
who plays Laila, says she is
what they call chalu in
Hindi. She has all the
emotions that you and I
have. She is heart-broken. So
when she nds attention
from a visually impaired
activist it comes as a
validation of love.

RADIO

The radio series on AIRs FM channels is an apt celebration of

100th anniversary of Gandhis return to India.
S.RAVI

CM
YK

the commitment required

she said that she cant stop
her modelling assignments
during the three month
shoot. Ultimately, we
decided to wait for Kalki and
I am happy that we did
because she was not needed
to be told that she should
spend hours in wheel chair at
home to get a hang of the
character or to work with the
physiotherapist and speech
specialist of Malini to
understand the movement of
the tongue. Kalki says she
practised every day for one
or two hours so that the
movements seep into her
muscle memory. In cerebral
palsy the movement of the
tongue gets limited. Letters
like T become difficult to
pronounce. Say in beautiful
the T sound is blunted.

CHAT

Road to becoming Mahatma

uch has been
written about
Mahatma Gandhi
but there are still many
aspects of his life and
personality that remain
unknown. A 100 episode
radio series Khamoshi-kidaastan each of three
minutes being aired by
All India Radios FM
Rainbow and FM Gold
Network since January
provides glimpses of rare
moments of the statesmans
life after he returned from
South Africa to Bombay in
1915. The series cover the
subsequent year in Gandhis
life when he was 45 years,
three months and six days
old. The series was made to
commemorate the 100th
year of Gandhijis return to
India. Moreover, the period
of one year thereafter is the
most poorly recorded time,
explains Madhuker
Upadhyay, author and
former editor, who
researched, wrote and
produced the programme
besides narrating the events
as Gandhis invisible travel
companion. Elaborating the
reasons for the poor
recording he says, Gandhis
political guru, Gopal
Krishna Gokhale, told him
on arrival to use his rst

Shonali says Kalki was her

rst choice for the role of
Laila. From the moment I
saw her luminous smile in
the photograph that the
casting director brought. She
could look the age as well.
She happily took the
audition and understood the
amount of work the
character required. However,
she was doing Yeh Jawaani
Hai Deewani at that time and
somehow its schedule got
postponed and it clashed
with our dates. We could not
wait for that long and so
after a lot of crying we parted
ways. Ayan Mukherji also felt
bad for he knew that it was a
big opportunity for Kalki.
Shonali started looking for
Laila all over again and after
hundreds of auditions found
a girl. But as we explained

It seems Lailas mother

has been introduced to give
us a societys point of view
on the disorder. Kalki agrees.
When Laila shares her
crush on a boy for the rst
time with her mother, she is
shaken. Revathy, a ne
actress that she is, manages
to bring out the three
emotions at one time
without saying a single word.
There is disbelief, there is
surprise and then there is
helplessness because despite
the fact that Laila could
reach this far only because of
her support she doesnt
know how to deal with her
physical needs. There is very
little material on it. There
are a couple of
documentaries and I have
seen just one movie staring
Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
on the physical needs of a
disabled person.
Shonali says it was not
deliberate. I wrote her as a
mother-daughter story like
the way I did in Amu and it
stems from my close bond
with my mother. However,
during the course of writing I
could say a lot of things
through this relationship.
On taking Laila to the US,
Shonali says it was not
because of the nature of her
relationship. See the story
demanded that the character
had to move out of her
mothers shadow. Initially,
we wanted to take her to
Bangalore but research
showed in India we still dont
have facilities where people
with cerebral palsy could
lead an independent life. And
I didnt want to create a
make believe situation. So we
took her to New York where
disabled people are
integrated in the society,
where there are kitchens
customised in a way where a
Laila could make her own
fried egg.

HISTORY IN THE
FOOTNOTES File
images of Mahatma
Gandhi and Kasturba;
Madhuker Upadhyay

year back home to observe

and absorb, study the
society and not to speak on
political issues. The second
reason was that the ongoing
World War I was the focus of
all news reports. Lastly, even
though some people in India
knew about Gandhi and his
work in South Africa, he was
still not known to general
masses.
Gandhi during that one
year travelled widely
meeting common people.
Among thewell-known
gures he met were Gokhale,
Ferozeshah Mehta,
Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
Rabindranath Tagore, Annie
Besant and Lokmanya Tilak.
One episode informs
listeners that the rst
meeting between Tagore

and Gandhicould not take

place as scheduled.
Interestingly when they met
after a year the former asked
the latter to sit beside him.
Gandhi chose to sit with
others on the bench with
Tagore too joining him.
The show presents the
human side of Gandhis
personality to a generation
which does not know about
him or how he became a
great leader. I think 1915 was
a crucial year in his life. He
did not speak on political
issues but touched upon
untouchability, lth,
garbage, importance of
cleanliness, education,
educational reforms, on the
necessity of an inclusive
society and on HinduMuslim unity,

revealsUpadhyay. The
leader had remarked that
the responsibility of keeping
the society together lies with
the majority which is crucial
in todays context. Making a
pertinent point the
producer says, History is
not just about big events but
footnotes too which cannot
be dismissed as trivia. These
help in understanding a lot
about a personality.
The material for the show
has been gathered through
Upadhyays research
stretching over the last 10
years for his books and
articles. Gandhis diary
provided sketchy details but
his letters, speeches, books
and of course newspapers
reports and ironically the

police departments
intelligence reports lled
the gap. Three newspapers
covered Gandhi extensively,
namely, Amrita Bazaar
Patrika, Bombay Chronicle
and The Hindu. Gandhis
visit to Madras in April 17,
1915 in the series, including
his buggy being drawn by
young men all the way to the
Chetty Street is based on
The Hindu reportage. The
letters exchanged by the
leader proved to be a
goldmine of information.
One written by the Mahatma
to a Shastrigal highlights the
opposition from people in
and around the ashram
when a person from
backward community was
made an inmate of the
ashram. Kasturba led the
protest for ashram members
but Gandhi told her sternly
that his decision was
irrevocable and that she
could leave if she desired.
Gandhi adhered to
Gokhales embargo even
after his mentor passed
away and observed at its end
that India had changed since
his last visit in 1900 and that
it was looking for a change.
Besides he realised that
India was not close-knit like
South Africa and that there
were sharp divisions based
on caste and religion.
Interesting details like
Gandhi arrived on Saturday
on a half moon day make the
series fascinating. Though
the programme hasnt been
publicised much, the ve set
CDs each comprising 20
episodes is a good idea to
disseminate more
information about Gandhis
formative years in India.

Time is right
With seven films in the pipeline, Richa
Chadda talks about working in Hindi film
industry on her own terms.
VISHAL MENON

haiya, thodi
dheere chalao
gaadi. Mujhe koi
jaldi nahi hain(please drive
slowly. Im not in a hurry),
Richa Chadda tells her driver,
as she speaks to me over
thephone on her way to the
airport. Clearly, she is in no
hurry even when it comes to
her career. Though she is
busy with as many as seven
lms, her breakout role
(Dolly inOye Lucky! Lucky
Oye!) happened way back in
2008. In between the
multiple breaks resulting
from a bad network, I get
news of Kangana Ranaut
bagging the National award
forQueen.I ask Richa if it is
not an exciting time to be an
actress in the industry, and
she says, I certainly think so.
I have always felt it was the
performance of the year.
More importantly, it is
heartening to note that the
lm was a commercial
success too. This is certainly
a positive sign, but we have a
long way to go.
2012, she believes, was a
pivotal year with femalecentric lms such
asHeroine,Kahaani,
andEnglish
Vinglishreleasing big. It

could be the beginning of a

trend, but Richa hopes it
becomes a revolution. Even
the eighties saw the
emergence of womenoriented lms such
asChaalBaazandBhumika,
but unfortunately it didnt
gain momentum. Remember
Cate Blanchetts Oscar
speech where she said how
we shouldnt look at femalecentric movies as niche? This
year, Patricia Arquette fought
for equal pay for male and
female actors. Nothing is
going to change here if male
actors can charge Rs. 45
crore for a lm, when the
maximum an actress can
command is Rs. 5 crore, she
points out.
Does she feel
disadvantaged by her nonlmi background? I come
from a middle-class family
and have made it so far on my

own without a boyfriend,

mentor or lmi family, as
they say. The industry is
male-dominated, and
surviving here has made me
vocal about these issues, she
says.
As for her style, she says,
she is an instinctive actor
and not a trained one. I read
a lot of books on cinema, act
in plays and attend as many
acting workshops as I can. I
think I put in this extra effort
because I have a complex
that I didnt go to FTII or
NSD. Earlier, I used to note
down a lot of instructions
next to the dialogues, but
now I just let it be. I continue
to observe people as I feel
thats half the work done. For
instance, inJiah Aur Jiah, I
play a TamBrahm. What
people generally do is imitate
a South Indian language. But
when a South Indian girl
travels to North India, she
mixes her accent with the
local one. Ive tried that in
the lm.
Richas next release will be
the Randeep HoodastarrerMain Aur Charles, a
lm partly inspired by the
life of Charles Sobhraj, The
Bikini Killer. Does she make
it a point to work on unusual
subjects? I play a law
student enamoured by
Charles, but it cannot be
called a biopic. When I opt
for a script, I want it to
appeal to my intelligence. I
want to work with directors
from whom I can learn new
things. Its equally important
to do commercial lms. You
need to attract eyeballs to be
in the reckoning, she says.
ND-X

FRIDAY REVIEW

IN SYNC P2

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

Friday, April 17, 2015

DANCE

Grand brand
Nikolina Nikoleski talks to Anjana Rajan about her new production featuring a range of classical and popular arts, premiering
this Friday in New Delhi.

his Friday
evening, the
Delhi audience
will get to see
Nikolina
Nikoleskis new production,
Brand Life, featuring Ballet
and Contemporary dancers
along with artists from other
disciplines, including
fashion, art design and opera.
Nikolina is one of the
many artists from foreign
countries who have been
drawn to the classical arts of
India and settled here.
Unlike many, however,
Nikolina, who came to learn
Bharatanatyam on a
scholarship from the Indian
Council for Cultural
Relations in 2004, has not
confined herself to one dance
language.
Being a professional
dancer, I have found from an
early age that dance has so
many techniques, forms,
expressions, depending on
the culture and country of
origin. My training in
classical Ballet,
contemporary Western
dance techniques and
Bharatanatyam has enabled
me to dive deeper into my
instrument, my body, and
realise the full potential of a
dancer, choreographer,
teacher, says Nikolina.
Each of these unique dance
forms allows a dancer to
explore more possibilities of
movement, she adds, stating
that there are no limitations
of body and spirit in
expression.
Her eclectic training in a
range of dance arts is put to
use in her institution, the
Nikolina Nikoleski Dance
Company, which she founded
in New Delhi in 2012. The
junior students of Ballet and
senior students of
Contemporary Dance from
this company are among the

performers in Brand Life.

As for Bharatanatyam,
Nikolina first learnt about it
while at a dance school in
Zagreb, Croatia. Later on I
got to know much more
about it while living and
studying in Germany and
Austria, where I watched so
many Bharatanatyam and
other Indian dancers
performing, says Nikolina,
who trained under the
celebrated Pina Bausch at
the Folkwang Hochschule
in Essen, Germany. After
coming to India, she learnt
Bharatanatyam under Guru

Saroja Vaidyanathan at her

institution Ganesa
Natyalaya for six years.
Nikolina offers
professional classes in
classical Ballet,
Contemporary Dance,
Bharatanatyam and Yoga.
Classes are held in two
dance studios in South
Delhi, she says, adding,
From July I , I will be
opening a third dance
studio. Since 2012, says
Nikolina, she has trained
over 300 students, from
age group of three years to
62 years! She plans to

Since 2012, says Nikolina, she has trained over 300

students, from age group of three years to 62
years!
Z

CARNATIC MUSIC

Rhythms and ragas

A peek at some of the recent concerts in
New Delhi.

increase her faculty

strength by bringing in
dance teachers and experts
from Brazil, various
countries of Europe, etc.
Learning dance, especially
the contemporary Western
expressions, has become
popular in the Capital and
other cities, with multitudes
wanting to learn it as a
fashionable hobby and
others reaping the
economic benefits of the
boom. Nikolinas vision,
however, is to train
students at the highest
international level so that
any of my students can
later join the best dance
companies of the world.
For some of these
aspirants at least, a
beginning will be made
right here in New Delhi
this Friday, as they perform

GRACE IN MOTION Nikolina Nikoleski in performance. PHOTOS: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

in Brand Life. After the

Delhi show, the production
is set to travel to Mumbai,
Bangalore, Amritsar,
Chandigarh, Pune and
Kolkatta, and Nikolina
hopes to take it abroad
later.
Brand Life asks eternal
questions like How far
have we strayed from our
real selves and our calling
or who we think we are?

and Are we too afraid to

stand on our own and
confidently face the
judgments of others?
The cast, she explains,
has three groups: The
pink group, consisting of
children of 4 to15 years of
age, includes the junior
ballet students of her dance
company. The second,
red, includes the
Contemporary dancers from

this academy, in the age

group of 24 to 38 years.
And the gold cast features
senior artists and theatre
personalities, aged 60 to 75
years.
Significant contributions
to the soundtrack have
come from opera singers
Nilima Buch and Reuben
Israel, and accordion player
Philippe Juszczak. The
stage set has been designed

PERSONALITY

A seekers odyssey
Bharati Shivaji on Chaitanyas
influence in Mohiniattam and
her journey in the dance form.

VENKATESAN SRIKANTH
NITA VIDYARTHI

ecently, the All India

Radio, in its National
programme of music,
broadcasted a violin duet
concert by Mysore M.
Nagaraj and Mysore M.
Manjunath. In their recital
of about one and half hours,
the brothers delighted
listeners with their brilliant
performance. Nagaraj and
Manjunath began with
Tyagarajas Rara
mayintidaka in raga
Asaveri before embarking
on to a somewhat detailed
rendition of Patnam
Subramanya Iyers
Marivere in raga Latangi.
A fine alapana preceded the
song rendition and the
brothers completed the
item with kalpanaswaras
laced with rich creativity.
Nagaraj and Manjunath
introduced a ragamtaanam-pallavi. The pallavi
composed in raga
Khambhoji and set to Adi
tala was presented in a
delightful manner. This was
preceded by a fine
delineation of the raga and
soothing taanam. The
brothers concluded the
session with ragamalika
swaraprastharas. K.U.
Jaichandra Rao on the
mridangam and N. Amrit on
the Kanjira provided able
support. Their tani
avartanam in Adi tala was
riveting.

Sunday concert
The hour-long Sunday
noon concert broadcast
from the Delhi station of
AIR is another programme
looked forward by music
enthusiasts. This past
Sunday, the concert
recordings of late M.S.
Subbulakshmi were
broadcast. However, the joy
of music lovers was short
lived as these recordings
were cut short to a mere
half an hour to pave way for
a film music based
CM
YK

highly distinguished
Mohiniattam dancer,
guru and researcher,
Bharati Shivaji, has been
performing for almost four
decades now. For years, she
has been meeting old gurus
in Kerala to hunt for extant
literature on Mohiniattam, to
collect the fragments of a
fading regional musical
system, also visiting temples
to document the sculptural
evidences and incorporate
the temple and musical
traditions of that State into
the repertoire of the classical
dance form to strengthen her
work on the reconstruction
of Mohiniattam. At the
Aishwarya Shankar at a concert.
recently concluded
International Seminar on Sri
Chaitanya, organised by the
programme. As there is no alapana was scintillating,
Asiatic Society, Kolkata, the
dearth of film songs based in which she brought out
its nuances to the fore, the Padmashree accorded
programmes in radio, the
neraval of the phrase,
danseuse was the speaker at
cut in the time slot for
Raja raja vara rajeevaksha one of the academic sessions
Carnatic music seemed
vinu, and the subsequent
and also chaired the one on
unwarranted.
kalpanaswaras flowed with the effect of Chaitanyas
Tyagaraja Festival
rich creativity.
contribution to the
Aishwaryas central item performing arts. In her
The two-day
too was ragam-taanamPurandaradasa Tyagaraja
lecture-demonstration, the
pallavi. She presented the
Music festival, organised
Delhi-based dancer traced
pallavi, Tyagarajare
jointly by the
Sri Chaitanyas devotional
umakku enai yavare sree
Ramakrishnapuram South
theism and the revolutionary
rama priyane, in raga
Indian Society and the
Sankirtana movement of the
India International Centre Karaharapriya and set to
ecstatic effusion of love for
khanda jathi thriputa tala
in New Delhi featuring
Krishna in the form of mass
to the delight of the
upcoming artistes, turned
chanting, singing and
audience. Earlier, she sang dancing in the name of god.
out to be a rewarding
a detailed raga alapana in
experience for music
In an interview on the
an unhurried manner. The sidelines of the event, the
lovers.
ragamalika swaras were in dancer expounded on the
Aishwarya Shankar who
Karaharapriya, Ramapriya
sang for about two hours
influence of Chaitanyadeva
and Kokilapriya ragas, both on Mohiniattam and her own
on the second day of the
in forward and reverse
festival too delighted the
work. Excerpts: How did
directions, albeit it was not Chaitanyadeva influence
audience. She started her
quite a smooth affair in
concert impressively with
Mohiniattam?
Purandaradasars Sharanu the reverse direction.
Lasya, if you see, only
Delhi R. Sridhar on the
Siddhi Vinayaka in raga
pertains to shringara, and
violin and Kumbakonam N. shringara is a predominant
Sowrashtram. Her next
Padmanabhan on the
item, Tyagarajas Isa
mode of Mohiniattam.
pahimam in raga Kalyani, mridangam provided able
Chaitanyas influence is
support. Sridhars take of
contained kalpanaswaras
certainly there. Lasya is not
that were indicative of her the ragas Khambhoji and
just grace but also a lot of
Karaharapriya and the tani bhakti-shringara.
talents in creative music.
avartanam of
Aishwarya then took up
Mohiniattam is nothing but a
Padmanabhan in Khanda
Tyagarajas Ma janaki in
devotional dance form. So
jathi thriputa tala were
Khambhoji for a detailed
the femininity that you see
enjoyable.
rendition. While the raga
embedded in Mohiniattam

by Manish Kansara and

lights by Anuj Chopra. With
costumes by the fashion
house Kartikeya India, the
production aims to appeal
to a wide spectrum of
spectators.
(Brand Life will be
performed on April 17,
Kamani Auditorium,
Copernicus Marg, Mandi
House, New Delhi, 7.30
p.m.)

and the andolita movements

that are predominant in the
technique cannot but be
most suitable for any
devotional movements. This
outpouring of love for the
deity (Krishna) in the form of
singing and dancing was
propagated by
Chaitanyadeva as the most
natural and best sadhana for
the seeker. Chaitanyadeva
takes the seeker into the
magical raas-world of
Krishna and the gopis; a
mystical dance of the soul,
incomprehensible to the
worldly mind. His
contribution towards the
spread of Vaishnavism
throughout the country is
perhaps one of its kind in the
pan-Indian influence on the
religious history of India. In
Mohiniattam, the sangitam is
bhavasangitam because
sopana sangitam is nothing
but bhakti-bhava. When the
bhavasangitam is sung for
Mohiniattam, it blends with
the undulating movements
and the dance gets
embellished by it.
Then, this should be
applicable to all dance
forms embracing
Bhaktibhava...
You will not get
Chaitanyas direct influence
in Kerala as such but Jaideva
and he shared the same
philosophy of Krishna and
Radha. That is the connect.
He himself was such a
follower of Jaideva that he
listened to Gita Govindam
everyday, admired and
appreciated it and was
dancing and chanting its
music, was so influenced by it
that he spread its music
(kirtans) which became the
favourite of the masses of
Bengal and Odisha.
Chaitanya toured all over
India propagating Gita
Govindam. That way, he was
able to preach and influence
Jaidevas philosophy. Here
was a unique example of
bhakti-shringara depicted
through Gita Govindam

POISE AND ELEGANCE Bharati Shivaji at the Kolkata

event.
PHOTO: NITA VIDYARTHI

that has become an integral

and significant part of the
Mohiniattam repertoire.
Sometime ago, you
worked with Tagores
Bhanusinger Padavali.
Could the Mohiniattam
grammar fit in
comfortably with the
music, especially the
taalas?
Yes! We took the original
work of Tagore as the way it
had been rendered but we
didnt have to do much. Since
the music was so lyrical that
it blended very well with the
lyrical quality of
Mohiniattam. So it appeared
as if it was composed for
Mohiniattam. It had never
been choreographed in
Mohiniattam before we did
it.
Any other reason why
you chose Bhanusingher
Padavali in particular?
Because the music is very
lilting, very beautiful, was the
main reason. After the whole
text was worked upon, we
thought that since it was all
about Krishna and Radha
and is bhava-oriented, it

suited Mohiniattam. We do a
lot of Gita Govindam you
know!
Can you name any other
interesting experimental
production you were a part
of ?
It was Pariyapti, in
which we experimented with
the dhak and edekka. We
used white and red bordered
saris to represent Bengali
women in the production
and white and gold for the
Mohiniattam dancers. It also
featured percussionist
Mriganabhi Chattopadhyay
from Kolkata who came
down to Delhi to record it for
us. It was basically
Mohiniattam dancer
Vijayalakshmis work. She
always looks for a social
relevance in whatever
choreography she does. In
Pariyapti, she tried to
highlight the discrimination
against underprivileged
women in the Indian society
as compared to the upperclass women.
I was staying in
Jamshedpur for sometime
where there used to be Jatras

during Durga Puja and

Vijaylakshmi, as a child, used
to accompany us to watch
them. One such Jatra was
about the ritual of collecting
dust from the door of fallen,
down-trodden women,
indispensible for the Durga
Pujas (said to have been
ordered by Lord Shiva to do
away with the neglect of the
marginalised women) which
influenced Vijaylakshmi and
we strung it with texts and
scripts from different
sources into a thematic
presentation. The music was
by Amitava Mukherjee.
Did you at any point
move away from
Mohiniattam or tried
extending its boundaries?
I cannot say that I have
moved away from tradition. I
am only dealing with the
tradition of Mohiniattam
which was not done, which
was not explored.
So what is your next
step?
My next step is to see all
my younger generation of
dancers take to Mohiniattam
in an innovative way with an
open mind.
How do you see yourself
in future?
(Laughs heartily).My
future is that I will just live
through Mohiniattam. Its so
funny and strange that I still
keep getting some roles to
play when it comes to
Mohiniattam.
In some capacity or the
other, one gets invited to
choreograph a piece, etc. for
a festival, or to do a
workshop or speak on the
dance form. Mohiniattam is
one particular dance form
where the dancer has to feel
the intensity inside, you cant
cheat yourself here.
Its so with other dance
forms too...
No (emphatically).
In which way?
Suppose, we execute a
graceful movement, it is not
skin-deep. Its not external.
Its an internal exercise. Its
the mind and body thing, and
unless you completely
surrender to your
movements, it will not look
graceful. You cant cheat that,
like the circular movements
involves the chakras.
ND-X

FRIDAY REVIEW

STAGE CRAFT P3

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

Friday, April 17, 2015

Outside the boundaries

Ashish Avikunthak calls himself a film artist who tries not to belong either to the film or
the art world. Shailaja Tripathi speaks to the artist.

ts not possible to
confine Ashish
Avikunthak to any
boundaries. He
intends it that way.
He exists outside; yet the
zone cant be nebulous. He
has been making films for the
past 20 years. So he calls
himself a film artist. His
self-funded works arent
released in cinema halls, they
are shown in major galleries,
museums and film festivals
across the world. Last year,
Art Review, an international
contemporary art magazine
based in London, named him
one of 30 Future Great
artists of 2014. Born and
brought up in Jabalpur and
Kolkata, he teaches film
media at the Harrington
School of Communication &
Media, University of Rhode
Island.
Apeejay Arts in
collaboration with
Chatterjee and Lal, is having
his retrospective
Deathlessness which
showcases films made by him
over the last 16 years Et
cetera, Katho Upanishad,
Vakratunda Swaha and
Rati Chakravyuh at
Apeejay Arts in the city.
Avinash in a Skype chat

OF TEMPORALITY AND INDIVIDUALITY Stills from Ashish Avikunthaks works

discusses his work,
influences, and what
encourages him to exist at
the margins.
On his retrospective in
Delhi
I have had retrospectives
in India earlier. NCPA
Bombay exhibited my black
and white photographs 16

years ago but I dont do

photographs anymore.
Experimenter in Calcutta has
shown my work, Chatterjee
and Lal in Bombay has
shown my work, Aicon in
London, but its for the first
time that Delhi is having a
retrospective. There are two
feature led films and three

other smaller works.

On being a film artist
and not a filmmaker
Unlike a filmmaker, film
artist isnt thinking about
audience. I work like a poet
and an artist irrespective of
market considerations. I
think boundaries have
become more rigid than ever

before and I thats why I am

deliberately outside these
boundaries. None of my films
have been commercially
released. One film Katho
Upanishad which was given
a censor certificate, was also
problematic. So, I dont go to
the Censor Board either. Nor
do I want any awards
because I dont want to be
legitimised by the State,
particularly from a rightwing government.
On art galleries
providing him the
alternative space to
showcase his work
Twenty years ago a film

made by Shyam Benegal

could have had a limited
theatrical release but that
market space which is now
dominated by multiplexes is
only interested in
entertainment. The market
thinks that my space cant be
shown in their space because
its not interested in any
work which is serious. So, the
only space available and
welcoming to artists like
Amar Kanwar, CAMP and
Raqs, is galleries and
museums. A gallery is a
private space not governed
by the State.
On still being an

Madhup Mudgals concert

reflected his voice quality and
the training he has imbibed
from his gurus

opportunity to listen to
Madhup Mudgal at a musicdance programme titled
Sur-Shringar at India
Habitat Centres Stein
Auditorium. Organised by
an NGO called Yogdan, it
also featured a
Bharatnatyam dance recital
by Geeta Chandran.
Madhup chose Kalyan,
the traditional name for
Yaman Kalyan, to open his
recital and sang a Bada
Khayal De Daan Mohe in
typical Gwalior gharana
style that makes its vilambit
khayal lean towards
madhyalaya. Elaborating
the evergreen raga through
the time-tested devices of
bol-alap, bahlava and boltaans etc., he impressed
with his disciplined
imagination that allowed

him to resort to pleasant

layakari. His taans were not
too fast or too forceful but
well-structured and
charming. As he is endowed
with a deep, well-trained
and melodious voice, his
vocalisms leave the listener
focused on the singing that
has imbibed the influences
of his great teachers in a
well-rounded manner. The
initial alap part of his recital
is always very satisfying and
this performance was no

exception.
He also sang a very
traditional madhya laya
composition Kinare Kinare
Dariya in the same raga
with feeling and verve, and
made a judicious use of
sargam bols.
After Kalyan, Madhup
Mudgal took up another
hoary raga Kamod and
turned to elaborating it only
after singing the entire
sthayi and antara as used to
be the vogue. He also sang

the familiar drut

composition E Maai Jaane
Na Doongi before rounding
off his recital with a thumri.
Vinay Mishra on
harmonium and
Shambhunath Bhattacharya
on tabla provided adequate
accompaniment.
After a few days, one got a
chance to listen to Dinanath
Mishra, a senior vocalist
from Kolkata, who belongs
to the Banaras gharana.
Although he specialises in

THEATRE

Life as it is
Staged at META, Malayalam play Matthi imparts dignity to the
working classes struggle as they are being gradually trampled by
the market forces.
DIWAN SINGH BAJELI

s the market forces are

getting stronger and
stronger the
community life in rural India
and small towns is fast
disintegrating, leading to the
exodus of hard working
people to cities to make a
living. Ironically immigrants
from other places are taking
their place, hoping to find
work. In this process social
harmony starts crumbling
bringing miseries to the
people. This burning social
and economic issue is
brought alive on the stage by
Matthi, a Malayalam play,
presented by
Malayalakalanilayam at the
LTG auditorium recently
which was part of Mahindra
Excellence in Theatre
Awards (META).
The distinct artistic
feature of the production lies
in its exploration of
proscenium space to capture
the slice of life with its
various facets as well as the
foreground and background
of the dramatic action being
unfolded on the centre stage,
projecting the life of
common people, their simple
and the sense of joy de vivre
experienced collectively by
the community.
CM
YK

On various influences
I am a Punjabi, born and
brought up in Calcutta. In my
20s, I was in Bombay and a
political activist for Narmada
Bachao Aandolan. As an
undergraduate, I studied
social work. At Stanford, I
studied cultural
anthropology. And my work
carries traces of all these.
(The retrospective is on
at Apeejay Arts, B-II/41,
Mohan Co-Operative
Industrial Estate,
Mathura Road, till May 31)

Decoding ghazal

Gentle and wafting

adhup Mudgal is a
seasoned vocalist
whose
performances are as
unassuming as the softspoken artist himself.
Initiated into music by his
father Vinaychandra
Maudgalya, who played a
singularly significant role in
popularising music and
music education in Delhi,
Madhup was later groomed
by the likes of Vasant
Thakar, Jasraj and Kumar
Gandharva. Little wonder
that his singing offers ample
evidence of the solid edifice
of his art. He does not shout
from the rooftops but softly
whispers the secrets of art
and life into ones ears.
Last week, one got an

outsider to the art world

None of my works have
been sold to collectors. I am
reluctant to be part of neoliberal market economy
because just about
everything is on sale today,
even relationships.
Everything is measured by
money and this market
economy is ultra-oppressive.
And I would like to resist
that. I try to escape that
because market economy
destroys individuality. I live
at margins.

GOING NATIVE

MUSIC

KULDEEP KUMAR

Rati Chakravyuh, 2013

105 minutes
On a lunar eclipse midnight, in a desolate temple, six
young newlywed couples and a priestess meet after a
mass wedding. They sit in a circle and talk about life,
death, beginning, end and everything in between after
which they commit mass suicide.
Vakratunda Swaha, 2010
21 minutes
Vakratunda Swaha is a film made over 12 years. It
begins as a requiem to a friend who passed away and ends
as a contemplation on death and ritual. Using the footage
of the late artist Girish Dahiwale (1974-1998) filmed in
1997 as the kernel, the film is a meditative exploration on
the place of dying and resurrection in our times.
Katho Upanishad, 2011
59 minutes
It is an adaptation of a 2500-year-old Sanskrit treatise
of the same name, where Yama instructs Nachiketa about
the path towards enlightenment. Structurally, the film is
a triad with three chapters the quest, the dialogue and
the final liberation.
Et cetera, 1997
33 minutes
Et cetera is a tetralogy of four separate films made
between 1995-1997. They seek to examine the various
levels at which the reality of human existence functions.
In these films, specific ritual exercitations have been
focused on and their movements, contemplated upon, by
studying the dynamics of their etymologies.

Set in the 70s and 80s

Kerala, marked by political,
social and cultural
movements collectively
launched by the people to
make their life meaningful
but this resurgence of the
people gradually degenerated
because of unabashed market
forces.
Jino Joseph, a versatile
artist, has written the script,
choreographed, designed and
directed the play. The
choreographic patterns,
especially in the mass scenes
exude the resolve of the
people to fight against
exploitation. The innovative
use of upstage gives the
illusion of a large vista with
the march of the people. It is
also used for the entry and
exit of the performers. The
subtle light effects create a
subtle theatrical artistry,
making visuals meaningful
and poetically intense.
On the surface, the play is
the story of Matthi Rafeeq, a
small time fish merchant,
who sells fresh fish called
sardines. His customers are
all local people. He goes to
the sea and after catching
fish goes door-to-door. The
relation between him and his
customers is one of trust and
mutual respect. The main
quality of sardines is that it is

cheap but nutritious and

easily affordable by the
working class of Kerala.
Rafeeq deals with sardines
only as a matter of principle.
Writer-director Jino has
imparted metaphoric
meaning to sardines.
Throughout the show its
name recurs several times in
different context,
establishing it as part and
parcel of the cultural, social
life of working class. Rafeeq
is happy and his sister looks
after household chores.
When Rafeeq returns home
peddling bicycle throughout
the day, his neighours
assemble in front of his
house. His cheerful sister
fries sardines in oil and then

Sardines are
replaced with big
fish. Rafeeq is
shattered. His
beloved Sheeba
also leaves for job
in the city. He has
lost his livelihood,
his friends and his
beloved. Now there
is no purpose for
him to live.

serves them hot to the

assembled people. This is the
happiest moments in the life
of these working class
people.
During these happy
evening hours they enact
plays with revolutionary
message about the unity of
the working class. They
would also discuss burning
current issues. This scene
captures the social and
political consciousness of the
working class without any
pretension. The fish is fried
in a frying pan on a dimly-lit
stove downstage with a view
to make the audience part of
the evening get together, a
little piece of hot fried fish is
distributed to the audience
sitting in front rows.
The young, hardworking
and cheerful Rafeeq is
beautiful, riding his bicycle,
he greets his customers with
a smile, he loves his sister
and young Shiba, his darling,
is dear to his heart. Such
lively characters in love with
life with keen awareness
about social issues grip the
attention of the audience.
Then we witness the plight
of the working people who
start migrating to other
places in search of livelihood.
Sardines are replaced with
big fish. Rafeeq is shattered.

His beloved Sheeba also

leaves for job in the city. He
has lost his livelihood, his
friends and his beloved. Now
there is no purpose for him
to live.
In fact, this is not a play, it
is life itself painted with
truthful colours. It is not a
slick play. It exudes the
flavour of the soil of Kerala
and the aspirations of its
brave worming class. The
tragic climax is followed by a
fantasy which projects the
return of old charming past
this reflects the dream of the
working class for a better
world.
The writer-director told
this writer that the members
of the cast are nonprofessional common

IN FULL FLOW Madhup

Mudgal in performance.

singing thumri and dadra,

Mishra chose the
pentatonic raga Abhogi for
his recital and sang his own
composition Sancho Hai
Darbar Tero in vilambit
teen taal, following it up
with a traditional
composition Charan Ghar
Aayo in drut jhaptaal. He
also sang a self-composed
bhajan.
Dinanath Mishras
performance was preceded
by that of his son Mangal
Mishra who chose the
Carnatic raga Saraswati.
While the father was
accompanied on tabla by
Jaishankar Mishra and on
harmonium by Kaushik
Mitra, Mangal was
accompanied by Zakir
Dhaulpuri on harmonium
and Jaishankar Mishra on
tabla. The two recitals could
have been more satisfying
had the vocalists stuck to
their speciality of thumri
and dadra singing.

Dr. Sarwarul Huda explores the

structure of the ghazal.
SHAFEY KIDWAI

olossal and
widespread popularity
of Urdu language
despite continuous official
renunciation and lukewarm
response of new generation
of its native speakers owes
much to its most-admired
verse genre ghazal which
through its sensorial imagery
caters to aesthetic
sensibilities of people who
differ significantly on
linguistic, cultural and
religious counts. In our
fragmented and subversionprone times, does ghazal still
dominate the literary and
cultural discourse? Can one
come across with the traces
of paradigm shift on its
structure? Does the term
ghazal remain intact or new
terms such as new ghazal or
modern ghazal or postmodern ghazal have gained
acceptance? Can one
differentiate between Indian
and Pakistani ghazal on
content or style levels? What
constitutes new ghazal and
what are salient features of
its poetics? There pertinent
questions are unfailingly
brought to fruition by a
recently published erudite
study New Ghazal. The
author Dr. Sarwarul Huda, a
young critic and scholar of
proven academic credentials,
zeroes in on both surface and
deep structure of the
contemporary ghazal and he
meticulously attests to its
affinity with the classical
ghazal. For Sarwarul Huda,
ghazals generic continuity is
maintained all through and
geographical boundaries
hardly have any bearing on
its structure. Ghazal
essentially turns attention on
the ultimate concerns of life
and various strands of human
predicament form its much
appreciated sensual and
cerebral import. Ghazal
symbolises creative
juxtaposition of collective
sub consciousness of Indian
mind which cannot be
expressed in a specific or
A scene from "Matthi"
formulated phrase.
Marking off Indian and
Pakistani ghazal is not a
workers whose performances question related to literary
are marked by spontaneity,
canon; it is a patently
sincerity, commitment and
political issue. If it is not so,
vitality. Ranji Kankol in the
Faiz, Ahmad Faraz, Parveen
lead role of Matthi Rafeeq
Shakir and Kishwar Naheed
gives an outstanding
hardly fire the imagination of
performance. The way he
even those Indians who are
looks at his beloved from a
even unfamiliar with Urdu
distance and she responds
script. This is not to deny
with a smile make the whole that poets composing ghazal
scene sparkle with romantic in Pakistan on concentrating
aura. His Rafeeq is the
on certain issues and Indian
darling of his community and poets put premium on some
he becomes also the darling
other aspects but according
of the audience. Anusree C.U. to Huda they are not as
as the lively sister of Rafeeq
distinct as they are made to
and Sindhu KR as the
be.
beloved of Rafeeq radiate
Elucidating the deeper
their scenes with the
structure of contemporary
brilliance of their
ghazal, the author asserts
performances.

that ghazal in both countries

now draws its sustenance
from the settings produced
by tales, myths and folk lore.
It makes it quite clear that
both the countries share the
cultural and ontological
concerns across the border,
and the poets continue to
lean heavily on old tales and
it is nothing but a clear
attempt to stitch up creative
bond with the old culture.
Divided into five well-argued
theoretical chapters, the
book offers a perceptive focus
study of 20 poets of the
subcontinent that include
Nasir Kazmi, Khalilur
Rehman Azmi, Majeed
Amjad, Khurshid Ahmad
Jami, Shakaib, Jalali, Muneer
Niyazi, Sulaiman Uraib, Shaz
Tamkenat, Waheed Akhtar,
Hasan Naeem, Zeb Ghori,
Bani, Kaleem Aatiz, Mazhar
Imam, Makhmoor Sacedi,
Mohammad Alvi, Shaheryar,
Ahmad Mushtaq, Irfan
Siddiqui, Zafar Iqbal, Sultan
Akhtar, Asad Baduni, Ghulam
Hussain Sajid, Mohammad
Izharul Haq, Farhat Ehsas
Shaheen Abbas and Irfan
Sattar.
The first chapter explains
the background of new ghazal
dispassionately in the back
drop of theoretical positions
taken up by Urdu critics
belonging to progressive,
modern and post-modern
literature. The author does
discuss the theoretical
orientation and linguistic
rendering with remarkable
thoroughness but Huda
seems to be in awe of one of
the famous critics of Urdu as
he refers to him time and
again without a valid reason.
Further, he quotes and either
appreciates or repudiates the
critical opinions which
hardly denote profound
critical insights. Noted
Pakistani critic Nasir Abbas
in his brilliant preface rightly
mentions that ghazal is not
only a creative text but it is
also linked closely with
critical discourse of our time.
Again, he tears apart the
argument that a successful
experiment must be in line
with the tradition. For him it
is an attempt to usurp the
freedom of the author.
Huda rightly points out
that new ghazal eschews
compound Perso-Arabic
words and makes use of
Hindi words. A keen interest
in Hindu mythology, folk fore
and cultural aspiration is
what that sum up the
structure of new ghazal. The
author deftly elucidates the
simultaneous development of
ghazal both in India and
Pakistan after Partition and
his analysis of several
couplets seems quite
outstanding. The book has
become so popular that it got
published in Pakistan within
no time.
ND-X

FRIDAY REVIEW

MIXED BAG P4

NOIDA/DELHI

THE HINDU

Friday, April 17, 2015

QUICK FIVE

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The scribe strikes

Kabhi Kabhie (1976)

s a little boy, I
played endless
rounds of
rooftop cricket,
an exercise that
frequently entailed scaling
the walls of the neighbours
in search of an errant ball.
Often in pursuit of the ball, I
ran into a bespectacled
bhaiyya who paced up and
down his little patch looking
nowhere in particular even
as his tape recorder played
Parbaton ke pedon par, a
dyed-in-romance song by
Sahir Ludhianvi. I loved the
song, not so my mother who
often wondered why this
guy played the song at
sunset, donon waqt milte
hain, as Sahir wrote. My
occasional queries about the
reason for playing and
replaying the same song
elicited a little shrug of the
shoulders by him.
However, he did,
sometimes, veer away from
the song. Then he played
Jagjit Kaurs Tum apna
ranjh o gham, also penned
by Sahir for Shagoon, I
learnt much later. Then,
high on a daily dose of
Gavaskar-Kapil Dev, I cared
little for sorrow, much less
when somebody invited it.
And happily came back with
my ball to resume my
struggle with the willow.
Occasionally, bhaiyya
came home to look at the
Sunday edition of Patriot.
One such evening, he took a
ball pen and circled a little
advertisement. Shagoon:
Now showing at West End,
daily 9.30 a.m.; reduced
rates, the little ad packed in
enough information. West
End though was a bridge too
far. A film that played at
West End usually shifted to
Excelsior the following
week. My neighbourhood
brother waited. And waited.
Shagoon did not grace
Excelsior the next week.

Relief though was only

transferred. The film moved
to Alankar, not too far from
our humble abode!
I dont know if he
managed to watch the film
at Alankar but in the days to
follow, he started playing
Sudha Malhotras Tum
mujhe bhool bhi jao toh yeh
haq hai tumko, a lesser
known song from Didi, a
much lesser known film, I
discovered many years later.
Abruptly though, this little
note of surrender was taken
off from the tape recorder,
replaced by Kabhi kabhie
mere dil mein khyal aata
hai and Main pal do ka pal
shayar hun. This time,
bhaiyya was not alone. He
had company, or
competition, as I got to
know, from others in the
vicinity. The Sahir
Ludhianvi songs blared
from every other house, no
college festival was
complete without one of the
resident singers trying his
hand at Mukeshs songs. As
young men imagined
themselves to be Amitabh
Bachchan on the college
stage, forgotten in the
melody of the moment was
the story of Sahir himself,
his unfulfilled relationship
with Amrita Pritam, his
nazm which gave birth to
the title of Yash Chopras
film, his being that inspired

the story, his story that

inspired a million songs,
and a thousand love stories
in many quarters.
Yes, Kabhi Kabhie was
that kind of film, it changed
the way people romanced. It
changed the way people
dreamt of love. It changed
love itself. And Sahir, he of
the progressive writers
movement, he of the Leftist
leanings, became the
messiah of every heart that
had experienced sorrow.
And why not? For only a
heart that had experienced
sorrow could appreciate
love, even longing.
It all seems to fit the
package perfectly. A multistar cast with the hugely
popular Amitabh Bachchan,
the quite popular Shashi
Kapoor, the up and coming
Rishi Kapoor with Rakhee
with more than just
pretensions to serious craft,
Neetu Singh, she of endless
ebullience and Waheeda
Rehman, not a trace
removed from grace. Add to
that Sahirs soaked-in-love
words, Khayyams music
which failed never with love
birds, and Lata Mangeshkar,
clearly keen to keep the
challenge of Hemlata at bay.
Not to forget Yash Chopra,
he of love atop the Alps,
romance with maple leaves
and sensuous chiffon. And a
heart that sweared by love.

FROM REAL TO REEL Inspired by Sahir Ludhianvis

genius
Kabhi Kabhie's galaxy of actors ensured the
films success.

Still, Kabhi Kabhie was

a risk. A big one. Bachchan
was just coming off
Deewar and Sholay.
Nobody was sure how the
masses would accept him as
a poet with a rose in his
hand after embracing him as
an angry man with arms.
Waheeda was past her
prime, Neetu yet to get
there, and Rakhee at her
best had to appeal for
attention rather than
command it. And in the era
of relatively fast paced
numbers, would Khayyams
Sunday-afternoon-pace
hold people in thrall?
Yet this love story of Amit
and Pooja Bachchan and
Rakhee defied the
doomsayers. And

stereotypes. Why and how?

The story holds more water
than a cloudburst can
contain. The lead pair is in
love alright, but it does not
lead to defiance. Enter
parents, another match.
Pooja ends up marrying
Vijay Shashi Kapoor, so
clearly smitten in the song
Kabhi kabhie mere dil
mein you could be forgiven
for thinking theirs is the
love story! Amit too marries
another lady, Anjali,
Waheeda in a super sober
act. But, as Sahir says in a
song, Rishto ka roop
badalta hain buniyaade
khatam nahin hoti. Fast
forward to the next
generation. The characters
meet again setting in

motion a chain that has the

past written all over it.
How? Umm. Therein lies
the crux of the film.
The knot sorts itself out,
yarn by yarn. But the story,
oops, the hero of Kabhi
Kabhie is Sahir. His songs,
veering close to
autobiographical at times,
pack in more emotion than
all else. And Khayyam lends
an able helping hand,
coming up with the
rumbustious Tera phoolon
jaisa rang to lend variety to
Main pal do pal and the
famous title song.
That is fine, but what
about that neighbourhood
guy fondly referred to as
bhaiyya. Well, once, I found
him listening to Tera
phoolon jaisa rang, tere
sheehshen jaise ang. No
prizes for guessing these too
were Sahirs words. As were
the songs Parbaton ke
pedon, Tum apna ranjh o
gham and Tum mujhe
bhool bhi jao. Another love
story fuelled by Sahir.
That, though is not the
end of the story. More than
a decade ago we were
blessed with a baby girl. And
in the early days of
parentage, my wife and I
often played Mere ghar
aayi ek nanhi pari, a much
under-value song filmed on
Waheeda in Kabhi Kabhie.
Only a man like Sahir could
touch such a sensitive
chord. Then four years ago,
God endowed us with twin
girls. This time, we beat
Sahir. Even he could talk of
only one nahi pari. We had
two, we told ourselves. That
was a rare concession to
Sahirs limitations. His craft
shines through all decades,
ages and generations.
Kabhi Kabhie he is worth
a rewind.
ZIYA US SALAM

TELLING VOICES

To be a writer
Talking about his books and writing, Jeffrey Archer reveals the trials and tribulations of an author,
notes Sudhamahi Regunathan

ere is the old adage in

new form: Behind
every great man is a
surprised mother-in-law,
says Jeffrey Archer. And no
wonder, for Archer says he
began writing only when he
was 34 and his first book
went down without a
whimper. I cant remember
what it was when my first
book was out. All I remember
is that my first book Not a
Penny More Not a Penny
Less only sold 3000 copies
in the first year. I keep
reading in the papers that it
was an instant success, it was
not. It took off after Kane
and Abel. For any author,
seeing the cover is a big day,
getting a copy of the book is a
big day and the publication
day is a big day and they do
not get any less nerve
racking. You wonder if
anybody will read the book.
You will be sitting there with
the publisher who is saying

no one bought this one, it is

still in the shops. I get
nervous every time. Kane
and Abel came in the fifth
year of my writing (he has
been writing for 39 years
now) and those five years
were difficult. He adds that
the greatest influence over
his life were three women;
his mother, his wife and
Margaret Thatcher.
His mother-in-law must
have been completely
wonderstruck by the time
Archer decided to write his
Clifton Chronicles. He says,
At the age of 70 I wanted to
write five book series to drive
myself, so decided to write
the story of Harry Clifton, a
boy born in the back streets
of Bristol and in love with
Emma Barrington, the
daughter of a man who owns
the docks and her brother
Giles. It is their story over a
hundred years, goes from
1920 to where we are today

and was originally meant to

be five books and now that I
have come to the fifth Harry
is only 40, Giles is only 40
and Emma is only 38 and to
kill them all off seemed
impractical so I went back to
my publishers and said it has
got to be a seven book series
if I am able to get them

through a sensible age of

dying.
Archer says he had
planned to cover 20 years in
each book but it had not
worked that way. I have not
a blooming clue on what
happens next I got to an
ending in the book I am
writing a cliff hanger

ending and my agent said

how does that solve itself, I
said I dont know. If I dont
know, the reader cant know
and that keeps us on the
edge
Archer says believes one
should write about what one
knows well and so he located
Harry in the region where he
grew up and about things he
knew...There is a lot of me in
Harry Clifton. I took
advantage of my 38 years as a
writer and decided to make
Harry a writerso I could tell
the worldas I had lots of
questions on e mail on how it
is to be a writerso I thought
I would make him a writer
and pass on to everybody
what a person goes through
when he is published for the
first time, speaks for the first
time. Equally his wife is
strong woman like Mary (his
wife of 48 years)
Archers favourite author
is Stephan Zweig, favourite

book is Dumass The Count

of Monte Cristo, Charles
Dickenss Bleak
Houseto go through life
not having read them is sad...
Archer says he had a very
bad review once and he had
to remind himself that the
reviewer was a failed story
tellerWriting is not easy as
it looks
Archer would have loved to
captain the cricket team, I
have made it clear to the
Chairman selection that I am
available but he has not
returned my call. I would still
like to be Prime Minister but
I think I have missed that
one too. So what I would like
now is this series to be the
best thing I have ever done in
my life.
sudhamahi@gmail.com
Web link:
http://goo.gl/oTeplJ

A FRESH TAKE Rajeev Khandelwal

DHANANJAY ATREAYA

oted actor Rajeev

Khandelwal is back
on Sony channel with
the show Reporter after a
gap. Beginning his journey in
the television industry in
2002 with a thriller show
Kya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat
he received recognition
following Kahin To Hoga in
which he essayed the role of a
scorned lover Sujal Garewal.
Rajeev has also acted in films
including Shaitan, Aamir
and Table No. 21 among
others.
Asked if the new show
heralds his return to the
small screen he said he was
not sure about what is yet to
come his way though he does
not want to leave this space
because of the love and
recognition it brought him.
Excerpts from the
interview:
Is there anything in this
show that tells about the
clash between personal
and professional life of the
journalists?
This show is not about
news at all. Something keeps
happening other than what
happens in the professional
life of a person. So this show
is about the life of the
characters in it. It is not just
about how news is presented
but it is also about what is
going on behind the cameras.
After the cut and before the
action there are a lot of
things going on in the
organisation. With the
beginning of a persons
career in a news
organisation, a journalist has
goals to achieve. It is
basically the first attempt to
show the world of a
journalism on TV.
A little about the
research for your
character Kabir in
Reporters.
The research was done
mostly by the research team.
On my part, I think it has
been more of an observation
than research. I have been
observing a lot of anchors
and reporters. I remember
during Sach ka Samna, I
had an earpiece in my ear. So,
I know that all the anchors
are wired to the PCR or their
control room. Apart from
that I have also been
observing their emotions
because as an actor, I must

understand their emotions to

make the people feel them.
Did you take anything
from any of the anchors
you observed?
I would like to say that
every anchor has a unique
style. I really did not want to
copy any particular anchor.
Some of the anchors are so
dramatic that you can
imitate them easily. But, I
tried to steer clear from
copying any anchor. I wanted
to make a new personality
with a new style for my
character. When you see an
anchor, their personality is
visible when they are reading
news or when you see them
outside the newsroom. A lot
has come from a director. I
would say that I was just
myself and it was the director
who gave the direction.
There is a kissing scene
in the promos that people
are talking about.
When I got the script I was
pretty excited because it was
something new that was
coming up. Even when I saw
Kritika on the set, she was
pretty fine with the kissing
scene because we knew that
nobody will be talking about
the kiss in the promos, even
though they are. There are
several takeaways in the
kissing scene. One is that
every girl should answer such
a cheap behaviour with a slap
no matter who the person is.
And another was that news
can be sensationalised. One
promo conveys a lot of
things.
Since the time of your
first show, what change
have you observed in
television industry?
Television has not changed
in terms of execution but it
has definitely changed in
terms of technique. It has
become better. We are
shooting on better cameras.
Before we used to shoot for
14-15 hours but now we shoot
for 10-11 hours. And the
attitude has also changed.
Now we dont think that we
are working for television.
We believe that we are
working for something we
are so passionate about. I
dont say that television is
smaller than Bollywood. I
would rather say that it is
much bigger than it. It is just
that the people call it the
chhota parda.

FROM THE DIARY

bookmyshow.com

Sharma followed by Kathak by Malti

Shyam. April 18, Amphitheatre,
Triveni Kala Sangam, 205, Tansen
Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi, 6
p.m. onwards.

an exhibition of folk and tribal

arts of India presented by Arts of
The Earth. Till April 17, Open Palm
Court Gallery, India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 11 a.m. to
7.30 p.m.

Concert

MUSIC

THEATRE

Yaadein Manna Dey

Ki

Khamosh Adalat
Jaari Hai

Ramshakun Charitable Trust

presents songs of the legendary
singer by Anil Sambhor, disciple of
Pandit Goverdhan Tripathi. April
17, Habitat World, India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 7
p.m.

presented by Saksham Theatre

Group, the Sunil Rawat's play is the
Hindi translation of Vijay Tendulkar's
drama Shantata! Court Chalu
Aahe. April 17, Amphitheatre,
India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road,
New Delhi, 7.30 p.m. Ticket: Rs.200
available on bookmyshow.com and
at the venue.

Music and dance

bansuri recital by Kailash

CM
YK

Big B

an exhibition of black and white

photographs by Sumit Basu from
Kolkata. From April 22 to 28,
Annexe Art Gallery, India
International Centre, 40, Max
Mueller Marg, New Delhi, 6.30 p.m.,
11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Indigenous
Creativity-IV

by S. Vasudevan and his

disciples. April 21, Auditorium,
India International Centre, 40, Max
Mueller Marg, New Delhi, 6.30 p.m.

CARNATIC DEVOTIONAL SONGS BY

S. VASUDEVAN AND HIS DISCIPLES,
APRIL 21, IIC

Here & Now

VISUAL ART

Carnatic Devotional
Songs

piano recital by Karl Lutchmayer,

Steinway artist who will perform
works by Chopin, Scriabin, Liszt
and Ravel. April 22, Auditorium,
India International Centre, 40, Max
Mueller Marg, New Delhi, 6.30 p.m.

Center, Connaught Place, New

Delhi, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Creative Six

The Three Graces

2 TO TANGO 3 TO JIVE, PLAY DIRECTED SAURABH SHUKLA. APRIL 19, KAMANI AUDITORIUM

comedy play directed by M.S.

Alam. April 18, Shri Ram Centre,
7.30 p.m. Tickets: Rs.500, 300, 200
and 100. For bookings: 9810255291
and bookmyshow.com

A Tale Of Two
Treaties

Behroopiya Entertainers in
association with Madball Company
presents the English comedy play
directed by Kathryn Doshi. April 18
and 19, M.L. Bhartia Auditorium,
Alliance Francaise De Delhi, 72,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 6 p.m.

Tickets: Rs.500, 350 available on

bookmyshow.com and at the
venue. Open for 10 years and
above.

2 To Tango 3 To
Jive

play directed by Saurabh Shukla

featuring Achint Kaur, Sadiya
Siddiqui, Preiti Mamgain and
Saurabh Shukla. April 19, Kamani
Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New
Delhi, 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets:
Rs.200 onwards and available on

group show of paintings by

Richa Bhardwaj, Kiran and Sita
Rattan. Till April 18, Convention
Centre Foyer, India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, New Delhi, 10 a.m. to 8
p.m.

India Unposed and

As I See It
two photography exhibitions by
Craig Semetko and Naveen Munjal,
respectively. Till April 18, Vadehra
Art Gallery, D-53, Defence Colony,
New Delhi, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Speaking Marble

group exhibition by sculptors

Gyan Singh and Amit Singh. On till
April 19, Triveni Kala Sangam, 205
Tansen Marg, Mandi House, 11
a.m. to 8 p.m.

PIANO CONCERT BY KARL LUTCHMAYER,

APRIL 22, IIC

Glimpses Of
Varanasi

solo exhibition by Yashwant

Shirwadkar with the works revolving
around recreating the typical scene
one witnesses on a Banaras ghat or
the steps that lead down to the river.
On till April 25, Dhoomimal Art

exhibition featuring artists

Manas Ranjan Jena, Sidharth
Pansari, Sujata, Vijay Sharma,
Jitender Dangi and Sanjay
Chakraborty. On till May 7,
Creativity Art Gallery, 6, GF, Hauz
Khas Village, New Delhi, 11 a.m. to
6 p.m.

Glimpses Of
Hungarian Wildlife

Prakar Gallery, Hauz Khas Village,

11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

photo exhibition of Jozsef

Mesterhazi. On till May 8,
Hungarian Information and Cultural
Centre, 1A, Janpath, New Delhi, 10
a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays only.

Museum Of
Unknown Memories
an exhibition of Manish
Pushkale's recent works depicting
his visual interpretation of past
which he has developed on paper
and canvas. On till June 6, Akar

JOZSEF MESTERHAZIS PHOTO

EXHIBITION. ON TILL MAY 8,
HUNGARIAN INFORMATION AND
CULTURAL CENTRE

FILMS
Dara Shikoh: An
Aphorism

(90 min/2015/English) directed

by Surendra Verma to mark the
400th birth centenary of Dara
Shikoh. April 20, Auditorium, India
International Centre, 40, Max
Mueller Marg, New Delhi, 6.30 p.m.
ND-X