March 2021 ®

ON Stagevolume 10 • issue 8

The Music Flows Again A festive reopening

In a new light Celebrating the stage Arun Khopkar on Edward Elgar World Theatre Day Bhaskar Chandavarkar

Chairman’s Note

t was gratifying to note that our return to the stage after a considerable hiatus was as successful as it was. We were a Ibit perturbed about the terms and conditions under which we could perform, and the strict adherence to the protocol laid down by our government where it was not the most companionable manner in which to attend a concert. But surprisingly, all was forgotten due to the excellence of the players, the appreciation of the audience and, above all, the discipline and orderliness with which our music-loving people behaved. I was indeed proud of all the elements that made up this concert, and I hope this continues. With the Coronavirus playing ducks and drakes with its ups and downs, and erratic invasion in our lives, it is time for us to evolve a different manner of operation of the NCPA while incorporating its basic reason to be. In order to promote its brand, we have, as mentioned before, decided to digitise our entire content of archives and to present future performances with the highest possible technical prowess available to us. The reallocation of spaces to different activities engages us constantly, and we hope a new and vibrant NCPA emerges in a few months. Our city deserves more than one performing place and with this open area of temptation clearly before us, why shouldn’t all our lovely heritage and open spaces enjoy our offerings? There are so many schemes and things which engage our endless imagination that we are always completely open to suggestions from our well-wishers, members and supporters. Do come forward. We need your help also.

Khushroo N. Suntook NCPA Chairman Khushroo N. Suntook

Editorial Director Radhakrishnan Nair

Editor Snigdha Hasan Consulting Editor Contents Vipasha Aloukik Pai

Editorial Co-ordinator Hilda Darukhanawalla 24

Art Director Tanvi Shah

Associate Art Director Hemali Limbachiya

Assistant Art Director Nandkishor Sawant

Graphic Designers Gautami Dave

Advertising Anita Maria Pancras ([email protected]; 66223835) Tulsi Bavishi ([email protected]; 9833116584)

Production Manager Mangesh Salvi

Senior Digital Manager Jayesh V. Salvi

Cover Credit Hardik Dinesh Shah

Produced by Features

Editorial Office and a man different to the one Elgar chose 4th Floor, Todi Building, to show to the world. Mathuradas Mills Compound, 06 Reflections Senapati Bapat Marg, Lower Parel, Celebrating a colossus. By Anil Dharker Mumbai - 400013 18 Ready for Revival Printer 08 Rediscover the joy of the live medium as Spenta Multimedia, Peninsula Spenta, ‘Without a song or a dance, what are we?’ venues in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru Mathuradas Mill Compound, Eleven months of stillness later, the NCPA celebrate World Theatre Day hosting more N. M. Joshi Marg, Lower Parel, Mumbai – 400013 came alive with music, dance and theatre, than 60 performances over two weekends and art lovers partook in the celebration this month, under the ‘Spotlight On Stage’ Materials in ON Stage®cannot be reproduced with gusto, making most of February shows initiative as a way to give lovers of the in part or whole without the written “house full”. performing arts experiences they have been permission of the publisher. Views and By Snigdha Hasan missing for almost a year. opinions expressed in this magazine are not By Krutika Behrawala necessarily those of the publisher. All rights reserved. 16 NCPA Booking Office Elgar in Worcestershire 20 2282 4567/6654 8135/6622 3724 Mikel Toms, Resident Conductor of the An Impeccable Education www.ncpamumbai.com Symphony Orchestra of India, set out on As the NCPA prepares to present an evening his bicycle, pedalling through the haunts dedicated to the traditional composition and of the great English composer’s life in the research of classical dancer, choreographer picturesque county and met the hills, rivers and scholar Parvati Kumar, one of his most

and woods that nourished his musical soul, cherished disciples, Sandhya Purecha, THEATRE ACADEMY, PUNE 28

remembers him as a teacher of an army of women who have show on the British Empire, from the idiom of classical dance, the broken boundaries, redefined 36 the NCPA to the BBC. tenets of ancient scriptures and music, lived and loved on their Play Halls and Curtain Calls the philosophy of a fruitful life. own terms and in the process, Meher Marfatia maps the hubs become custodians of music for and haunts of Parsi theatre 42 the soul. in the heyday of this genre in Programme Guide 24 By Ela Das Bombay. A guide to all the events A Man for All Seasons happening at the NCPA in March. Bhaskar Chandavarkar, a multifaceted maestro, had an 32 40 elemental love of music. By The Eternal Outlier Performing Arts: 48 choosing to share this love with Contemporary dancer and Stand-up Comedy What’s Next the world as composer, teacher choreographer Astad Deboo Comedian and writer Anuvab What to expect in the following and writer, he enhanced it in was well versed in the language Pal chronicles the journey of his months. immeasurable ways. To mark his of rebellion, the kind that 85th birth anniversary this month, broke ground, made history Follow us on: Arun Khopkar writes about the man and in unprecedented ways, who not only created great music, championed both unknown facebook.com/NCPAMumbai but also spent his life teaching and artistes and innovative idioms. nurturing it in all its forms. By Arundhathi Subramaniam @NCPAMumbai

@NCPAMumbai

28 35 youtube.com/user/TheNCPAMumbai1 Soul Custody Kaleidoscope With treasured R&B and blues Your window to the latest in the classics as part of the line-up, performing arts across India and We look forward to your feedback and suggestions. Please do drop us an Keshia B is paying tribute to the world. email at [email protected]. OPINION

Reflections Celebrating a colossus. By Anil Dharker

Beethoven has been described as ‘the York Times, credit was speculation about her Face of Western Classical Music’. You given to Nannette identity. Could it be may have your favourites—Mozart, Streicher’s husband Elise Barensfeld, a young Schubert, Brahms, Bach…but you are Andreas, who was her singer? Or Countess still unlikely to dispute that statement, sales manager, while she Therese, and the title was so secure is Ludwig van’s position in was the manufacturing really meant to be ‘Für the pantheon of music. His music is genius, having learnt Therese’? And who was ingrained in our culture: the opening the craft from her father, the ‘Immortal Beloved’ notes of the 5th Symphony, da-da-da- the legendary Johann of Beethoven’s most dumm, are familiar even to those who Stein. She developed an passionate love letter? are new to music. Also familiar, and in innovative mechanism Was it Josephine von our divisive times so very relevant, is for the piano which came Brunsvick, and was the the line from the Ninth’s Ode To Joy: to be called the Viennese letter ever sent? None of ‘Alle Menschen werden Brüder’ (All Action. This gave the his proposals for marriage Mankind will become Brothers). piano a light touch which was too were accepted because, great pianist or More’s the pity that the pandemic ‘refined for me’ Beethoven said. Andreas not, he was ‘only a commoner’. spoilt the celebration of the composer’s was more blunt, describing Beethoven’s We know of one letter that was never 250th birth anniversary but with human playing ‘as if he is a brutal murderer sent, and this wasn’t a love letter at ingenuity, calendars are stretchable, bent on revenge,’ adding a line that was all. Written in 1802 when Beethoven so instead of ending the festivities on sadly prescient, ‘Beethoven played with was 32, it’s come to be known as the his birthday of 16th December 2020 as such violence that you wonder whether ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’ after the previously planned, celebrations began the player is deaf.’ Nannette, however, wine-growing village in which it was on that day and will last 250 days until was more sensitive to criticism and probably written. ‘For my brothers September 2021. The Danish String began to make much larger and louder Karl and Johann’, it begins, ‘O you men Quartet consisting of musicians in their pianos, her workshop producing around who think or say that I am malevolent, mid-30s did a marathon six-concert 65 grand pianos a year. Touchingly, stubborn or misanthropic, how greatly series on consecutive days, playing all she befriended Beethoven and 60 of do you wrong me’. He goes on to say, of Beethoven’s string quartets, while the his letters to her have been found: they ‘From childhood my heart and mind pianist, Susanne Kessel created what has are not love letters, but about domestic was disposed to the gentle feeling of been described as ‘the Mount Everest chores because she had agreed to sort good will. I was ever eager to accomplish of homage projects’, commissioning out his shambolic household. great deeds, but reflect now that for six 250 pieces for Beethoven across genres Beethoven’s love letters were to years I have been in a hopeless case, like jazz, pop and new music from 150 beautiful women; he fell in love often, made worse by ignorant doctors, yearly composers belonging to 47 countries. almost always with titled women. betrayed in the hope of getting better, Would the great man have approved At that time, young ladies of the finally forced to face the prospect of a such eclecticism? After all, he was aristocracy were encouraged to be permanent malady.’ He was of course, trained in the classical tradition, not so musical: they could either sing or referring to his loss of hearing, ‘the one pleasantly to start with by his alcoholic play an instrument. A violin or viola sense which should have been more father who locked him in the cellar and required too much strenuous bowing, perfect in me than in others.’ He ends thrashed him for not practising hard while a cello had to be placed between by saying that it was to ‘my art I owe enough, but later, more conventionally, the legs; only a piano was considered the fact that I didn’t end my life with by Haydn in Vienna. In spite of this ladylike. Beethoven, as the most suicide’, having contemplated taking his training, he did make major departures, celebrated pianist of Vienna, naturally own life many times. for example, by being the first composer had a steady line of pupils. Apparently, Luckily for us and for posterity, he of his time to discard the harpsichord Moonlight Sonata was written for lived a further 25 years, composing and play the piano. Countess Giulietta Guicciardi, the his greatest symphonies including the Therein lies an interesting story. The 30-year-old Beethoven’s 18-year- immortal Ninth, and the late quartets, person who made his early pianos was a old student. (Morrisroe has written music which he could only hear in his she, not a he, and being a woman, long a fictional account in her novel The head. As Wagner said of him, ‘Beethoven unacknowledged. In fact, as Patricia Woman in the Moonlight). Who was was a titan, wrestling with the Gods.’ In

Morrisroe wrote recently in The New the Elise of ‘Für Elise’? There is much the end, the gods of music won. KARL JÄGER/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

6 • March 2021 NCPA

COVER STORY

Eleven months of stillness later, the NCPA came alive with music, dance and theatre, and art lovers partook in the celebration with gusto, making most of February shows “house full”.

By Snigdha Hasan HARDIK DINESH SHAH Mr. Khushroo N. Suntook with the SOI Chamber Orchestra The Allegro con spirito of Mozart’s Symphony us to play chamber music and as an artiste, it is No. 29 in A major, K. 201, with which the concert important to do so. Your responsibility when you opened was indeed a spirited, festive choice for the are part of a chamber orchestra only goes up. With occasion and the joy palpable among the audience fewer musicians playing the same part, there is no seemed to flow directly from the orchestra that hiding behind the sound,” adds D’Souza. had come back together as an ensemble after For the sound itself to be able to reach the close to a year. “The concert was an opportunity to audience optimally, the theatres’ sound systems fulfil the longing to return to the stage and we were as well as individual instruments call for regular deeply appreciative of this opportunity,” says Deon maintenance. “I must mention our core technical D’Souza, a violinist with the Symphony Orchestra staff who stayed on at the NCPA in spite of the of India, whose arrangement of the Bollywood atmosphere and thank them for the continuously Oldies Medley was much appreciated. dedicated service they paid to the maintenance To be able to sound the way the musicians did and well-being of our theatres,” said Mr. Suntook as as an ensemble, however, took weeks of rehearsal the audience dedicated its first round of applause which began in December. The seclusion preceding to this behind-the-scenes team. that was spent honing their individual art. Al-Farabi Bakhtiyarov, who played a soulful rendition of On stage and off it Gabriel’s Oboe by Morricone at the reopening, for Another behind-the-scenes team as elated as the instance, worked on his weaknesses and read the audience and artistes to be back in the theatres biographies of leading modern classical musicians is the NCPA’s gentle yet firm army of ushers, to gain an insight into their process. recognisable in their silvery bandgalas and now, As the orchestra prepares for upcoming face shields. Having been a part of the NCPA concerts, practising individually in addition to for years, many of them can instantly recognise rehearsing together is a need that only seems to members and regular patrons and the familiarity have grown with chamber music being key to the is mutual. “On the day we reopened, many of the programming. “Mr. Suntook always encourages audience members walked up to us to enquire or a devoted audience member who orchestra again. There was a hint of trepidation, of became Editor of ON Stage, one of the course. The odd realities of a pandemic-hit world biggest perks of the job is that the thought are glaring. But with the comfortingly familiar of the arts never leaves one. While the “Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats” and working hours comprise stimulating the lights dimming, the concert routine seemed to Fconversations with musicians, actors, dancers and come flooding back and the worries melted into the genre heads at the NCPA, and grappling with words darkness. that flow from them, the day ends with the promise of being treated to a concert or play at a stone’s throw The sound of music from the office. To continue those conversations, That a performance by the SOI Chamber Orchestra tinged with despair for much of 2020, but not be for the opening night had been made possible rewarded with a live performance was, in the very in spite of the musicians, advisors and business least, unsettling. Hopes were alternately dashed associates being scattered all over the world for and revived as the news of the vaccine, the mutant much of the lockdown was a feat and Chairman Mr. virus and rising and falling numbers came out. But Khushroo N. Suntook expressed his gratitude to

The standing ovation, then—and there have been many in the past few weeks—is as much for the plays, concerts and recitals { as it is for the joy of witnessing live performances again }

on a fine January morning—after several rounds of them in his speech that preceded the concert. What running through the safety protocols for artistes, appears to be a difficult feat even in these trying audience and staff—when it was decided that the times is support for the performing arts. “Culture NCPA was safe enough to reopen on 3rd February, unfortunately has not received the sort of support it was, pardon the yen to use the idiom, music that is accorded to it in almost every other country to the ears. of the world either by the government, or by most And it was music to the ears of hundreds of corporates. [Here, it] largely depends on CSR Masked and socially distanced audience audience members who came out, masks on and activities which are binding rather than voluntary,” members during the first concert performed hands sanitised, to take their socially distanced he went on to state, highlighting the need to value at the NCPA in almost a year

NARENDRA DANGIA NARENDRA seats in the Tata Theatre—and be serenaded by an this important need of civilised society.

10 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 •11 Pratik Gandhi plays Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in Mohan’s Masala Vaibhav Arekar and Sankhya Dance Company in a scene from Shiva: Facets of Him

Musicians at the CITI – NCPA Promising Artiste Series

An usher stands by to provide Ventriloquist Seema Golchha with her puppet at assistance during a concert Unlocking Comedy, an hour-long comedy show with some of the best comics on the scene

The Allegro con spirito of Mozart’s Symphony No. 29 with which the concert opened was a festive choice and the joy palpable {among the audience seemed to flow directly from the orchestra } that had come back together as an ensemble after close to a year

about our well-being. They all had one thing to say, these tough times, ensuring we were paid our ‘We cannot be happier that the NCPA has started salaries even when there were no performances hosting performances again. The ennui of sitting and no audience to usher in.” at home was becoming unbearable’,” says Pranav Ushering in and seating people in a socially Sawant, as he takes a breather from guiding the distanced arrangement with face shields on is no audience to the exit after a screening of The Red mean feat, though. “Our job entails going up and Shoes. Adds Ramesh Devadiga, “Even though we down the stairs several times and that fogs up the are operating at 50 per cent occupancy, the number shields, but it is for our own safety,” says Vishwanath of ushers hasn’t been brought down to see to it that Shetty. Apart from keeping the audience from using help is at hand for the audience at all times. We are their cellphones, they now need to see to it that

grateful to the NCPA for standing by us throughout people keep their masks on at all times and that DANGIA NARENDRA

12 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 13 This page: The foyer and entrance of the Tata Theatre, donning festive colours, to welcome the audience back

an audience member with even a hint of a cough is OTT platforms have come up,” says Gandhi, whose politely escorted out until the bout is over. portrayal of the lead character in a recent web There is also the urge among attendees to meet series has earned him much critical acclaim. “And artistes backstage but social-distancing norms I always say, theatre is not going anywhere. There suggest otherwise. As the ushers prevent crowding is no substitute for it.” Shah points to the phone in outside the green room after a house full show of his hand and remarks, “This device is making people Mohan’s Masala, the much-loved duo of veteran very lonely. But can you imagine what happens when director Manoj Shah and actor Pratik Gandhi 500 people sit together and rejoice in what unfolds speak of what it means to be able to stage plays before them? That’s what happened today,” he says, again and to be back at a venue where they have referring to the standing ovation at the curtain call. premiered several of their productions, including “The sound of the applause is like the chime of the this monologue that attempts to make Mahatma bells upon entering a temple.” Gandhi human and relatable. “The NCPA is, in the The standing ovation, then—and there have true sense of the word, a centre for the performing been many in the past few weeks—is as much for arts,” says Shah. “There are few venues with a soul. the plays, concerts and recitals as it is for the joy This is one of them,” adds Gandhi. of witnessing live performances again. To many As Gandhi moved through the phases of audience members, the NCPA’s reopening marks Mohandas’s life that played a part in making him the return to normalcy. Or, as the ever-eloquent a Mahatma, the audience laughed and gasped, Gerson Da Cunha, advertising stalwart and thespian epitomising the collective experience of being with who has performed to many a packed house at the fellow art lovers in the same space. “I am often Tata Theatre, puts it, “Coming back to the NCPA

NARENDRA DANGIA (ABOVE); HARDIK DINESH SHAH (BOTTOM LEFT & RIGHT) asked about the future of theatre now that so many feels like coming back to an old friend.”

14 • March 2021 NCPA

MELODY The dramatic Malvern Hills, formed of rocks considered to be the oldest in England, were a source of great inspiration for Elgar Elgar in Worcestershire Mikel Toms, Resident Conductor of the Symphony Orchestra of India, set out on his bicycle, pedalling through the haunts of the great English composer’s life in the picturesque county and met the hills, rivers and woods that nourished his musical soul, and a man different to the one Elgar chose to show to the world.

“Has anyone ever been killed here?” “Killed?” “Yes.” “I couldn’t say off the top of my head. I’d have to find out for you.” “It doesn’t really matter. I don’t mind if they have.” “Don’t you?” “Well, yes I do. I mean it would have been better for them if they hadn’t been.” There are many composers whose music draws on nature for “Who?” “I have no idea.” inspiration, but Edward Elgar’s music has worked strongly “Right.” “And what about the neighbours?” in actively shaping the public’s perception of those natural “I’m fairly certain they haven’t been killed.” { features in return } “I mean any issues with noise?” “No. Unless you count the massive Anglican cathedral outside your front door.” perception of those natural features in return. The It’s interesting, then, that the house Elgar chose to I have never bought a house before and I worried Malverns are an isolated and undulating line of hills be remembered by was his birthplace at Broadheath, my inexperience was showing. Before the viewing, I that rise out of the Severn Valley at Great Malvern now the site not only of the cottage itself but also downloaded a list of incisive questions with which to grill in Worcestershire and sink back into it eight miles of the museum and archive devoted to the man and estate agents. Murder and noise abatement appeared to south across the county border in Herefordshire. his music. He can surely have had even less memory be the compiler’s main areas of concern. A geologist will tell you the hills comprise strata of having lived there than he had of living at College I am fairly certain Edward Elgar’s father didn’t have of igneous and metamorphic rock from the late Precincts. There are several other houses that would this trouble when, in 1848, he and his new wife moved Precambrian Eon, of granite and schist, of dolerite much better have represented his actual life had that into No. 2 College Precincts, a beautiful red-brick and gneiss. A musician will tell you they are a been his aim. Elgar, though, would turn out to be one townhouse, tucked away in the shadow of Worcester descending sequence for middle-register strings, of the great image manipulators of classical music and Cathedral and now on the market for an asking price of marked nobilmente, probably in E flat. a walk or cycle through the haunts of his life is very £365,000. Edward Elgar once said: My idea is that there is music in “I like the tartan carpet,” I said when we got back often a process of uncovering a very different man to the air, music all around us, the world is full of it, and you It is a large house for a couple and when they moved simply take as much as you require to the drawing room, “and that’s an impressive lava- the one he chose to show to the world. in, Mr. and Mrs. Elgar lost no time in making it feel themed, cast-iron fireplace too”, but I don’t think I was smaller. By 1855, Elgar’s three older siblings Harry, the sea, took up piano tuning and moved West to convincing anyone. The article has been excerpted from a chapter on Edward Lucy and Pollie had all been born here. Edward himself Worcester in the shadow of the Malvern Hills. It was On the whole, it’s a nice house but I am not sure I Elgar in Mikel Toms’s upcoming book, Travel Songs - made an appearance in 1857 but by that time, the family a far-reaching decision. There are many composers would fork out £365,000 for it even if I had anything Five Journeys with Great Composers. A more detailed had moved a couple of miles outside Worcester to a whose music draws on landscape, the environment remotely approaching that figure in my bank account. version of this article appears in the print edition of the cottage in the small village of Broadheath. Elgar père and nature for its inspiration. Strauss’s Alpine I suppose the price reflects its location in the bosom March 2021 issue of ON Stage. retained the house at College Precincts, however, and Symphony, Debussy’s La Mer, Beethoven’s Pastoral of St. Wulstan’s magnificent medieval cathedral. The SOI Chamber Orchestra will present Entirely Elgar in 1861, the family, including three-year-old Edward, Symphony and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons are all Maybe too, though, it reflects its association with the on 13th March at the Tata Theatre. Marat Bisengaliev, a moved back in again. good examples, but I find it difficult to think of any composer which it trumpets proudly on a blue plaque noted interpreter of the composer’s works, will lead the Edward’s father, William, hailed from Dover on composer whose music has worked so strongly in by the front door. The Elgars left College precincts orchestra as conductor and violin soloist in a programme MIKEL TOMS the southeastern coast of England. He left behind the opposite direction, actively shaping the public’s COMMONS RODIN777/WIKIMEDIA when Edward was five. dedicated to Elgar, orchestrated by Toms.

16 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 17 CELEBRATION Ready for Revival Rediscover the joy of the live medium as venues in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru celebrate World Theatre Day hosting more than 60 performances over two weekends this month, under the ‘Spotlight On Stage’ initiative as a way to give lovers of the performing arts experiences they have been missing for almost a year. Krutika Behrawala

n December 2020, Bruce Guthrie watched venue as also multiple genres across performances,” Einstein at Prithvi Theatre. It is an evening he shares Razdan. will cherish for long and not just because of For instance, on one of the six days, audiences INaseeruddin Shah’s stellar performance. He was in Mumbai will witness four different kinds of watching a play on stage after almost 10 months of performances. At the NCPA, they will be regaled COVID-19-induced lockdown that had brought live with Western Classical music while The Royal Opera performances to a standstill. “Coming back to the House’s stage will reverberate with an Indian dance theatre and experiencing a live performance was so performance. On the same evening, Prithvi Theatre’s good for the soul,” says Guthrie, Head of Theatre & intimate setting will witness a play and St. Andrew’s Film at the NCPA, which also reopened to the public Auditorium will resonate with the sur and tala of Indian last month with sold-out shows, signifying the ever- classical music. strong appetite of theatre lovers. “Every venue is so different in terms of the space and With the curtains rising again, the NCPA and other audiences. What is exciting is that we’re collectively cultural venues in Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru have working towards bringing the audience back to come together to whet this appetite further and revive theatre,” says Asad Lalljee, CEO, Avid Learning, SVP the joy of live theatre through BookMyShow’s initiative Essar Group and Curator, Royal Opera House, Mumbai. titled ‘Spotlight On Stage’. With their live programming on pause through the lockdown, his team organised a number of online A need for the arts events. “Technology enabled us to bring artistes sitting “Ever since the lockdown was imposed last March, in different parts of the world to co-create and co- we had been inundated with audience requests to produce over Zoom, and that’s here to stay. However, bring back live entertainment experiences, once the it’s not going to replace the physical experience of situation begins to improve,” says Kumar Razdan, watching a live performance on stage.” Head - Theatricals, BookMyShow. “With the onset of The same holds true for performing artistes a new year, we wanted to mark the revival of the live too, shares Vidyun Singh, Director - Programmes, entertainment sector as restrictions on capacity were Habitat World, India Habitat Centre. “Actors thrive eased slowly and the vaccine roll-out began to inspire on audience’s excitement, their collective energy and confidence. And what better way to do this than instant reactions, which is not possible to receive collaborating with our friends and long-time industry online,” she says. With the pandemic impacting the partners to bring the magic back on stage?” performing arts community financially, an endeavour Through this first-time industry endeavour, audiences such as this would also help artistes get back on their will enjoy over 60 performances spanning English and feet, assert the stakeholders. Hindi theatre, Western classical music, Indian music as Guthrie believes that such collaborative efforts well as stand-up comedy. The performances will be are the way forward. “We need each other’s help spread over two weekends, including World Theatre to thrive. That is the thrill of working in theatre too. Day on 27th March. Besides the NCPA, the participating It is a team effort,” he says. Razdan agrees and venues include The Royal Opera House, St. Andrew’s discusses plans that sound exciting for artistes and Auditorium and Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai, Delhi’s India theatregoers alike. “Going forward, we will bring Habitat Centre and Kamani Auditorium, and Jagriti several compelling initiatives in the live entertainment Theatre, Ranga Shankara and Chowdiah Memorial Hall space in collaboration with partners across the in Bengaluru. All the venues will ensure that social- industry, and we truly believe that ‘Spotlight On Stage’ distancing norms and government protocols are in is the best way for us to kick-start the recovery of place. this sector.”

Offline vs. online World Theatre Day events will be held at multiple Working together with the venue partners, the venues at the NCPA on 19th, 20th and 21st March and line-up has been “thoughtfully curated, keeping in at the Tata Theatre on 26th, 27th and 28th March. For mind the audience profile and preference for each details, please visit www.ncpamumbai.com ROSHAN M. DUTT 18 • March 2021 NCPA 24 • January 2021 NCPA EXPRESSION followed—firstly, to A strict study the etymology follower of the or origin of each guru-shishya word, meaning or parampara, body movement. It Guruji would be was only after this seated with his detailed and basic ‘tattakali’ five exploration that he minutes prior would begin with a to the arrival of lesson. His direction the student. His was simple—be it a routine was on Parvati Kumar with wife, Sumati Parvati Kumar (left), and body movement in disciples Sandhya Purecha (right) and Bhavana Shah the dot, be it his dance or a thought time of worship, in daily life, nothing originates yoga, snacks, meals or rest. The without logical reasoning, rules A nrityacharya, ballet clock would indicate to us most and discipline. And thus, he of his daily activities. And this simplified that way of life. choreographer, dance discipline, value of time as well However, these concepts were director for films, Guruji as time management is what I not just taught through the imbibed from him. medium of the usual theory and was equipped with a Another popular belief— practical classes. A significant deep knowledge of the that Indian classical dance realm of the guru-shishya has no room for creativity and parampara is the combined scriptures, and most innovation—was challenged by study of varied subjects under Guruji and he taught us how to one master. So, when Guruji notably, he ensured the attempt novel creations within explained emotions (bhava), he authenticity and sanctity the framework of classical would narrate a Puranic legend, dance. For instance, with the or cite an example from history of each of the avenues he research and traditional dance or refer to an ancient treatise in worked in choreography of the ancient order to touch upon that emotion works of Sarfojiraje Bhosale An Impeccable and embed it into the student’s in Marathi, he made them heart and soul, and then allow it to accessible to the generations organically manifest through the body. He did not to come; the choreography of the text Abhinaya believe in mechanical instructions like widen your Darpanam into an audio-visual presentation did the eyes to show anger, or constrict your eyes to show same. Education sorrow, etc. Sorrow manifests when felt deeply from As the NCPA prepares to present an evening dedicated to the traditional composition and within and so the mere physical action cannot ensure Preserving tradition research of classical dancer, choreographer and scholar Parvati Kumar, one of his most rasanispatti (experience of rasa). The core of Guruji’s Guruji was a true visionary. He knew that in order to cherished disciples, Sandhya Purecha, remembers him as a teacher of the idiom of classical teaching was vested in a collective learning of all preserve and propagate dance in its most authentic dance, the tenets of ancient scriptures and the philosophy of a fruitful life. the arts. Learning Bharatanatyam included learning manner, he must codify it in a way that it is made music, tala, the arts of iconography, painting and accessible to future generations. Thus, he devised a even cooking, all of which were essential studies. For method of writing the notations of dance alongside this, he would teach us verses from ancient Sanskrit the system of music. With Guruji’s strong foundation ‘Tujhi Ramachandra ki jai!’ If you ever heard someone hearing such a firm and definitive answer, Guruji called texts, gently suggesting the importance of studying of the shastras, every step and movement had a exclaiming and correcting his students’ mistakes me again on the auspicious day of Guru Poornima and Sanskrit as a language for Indian classical dancers. technical term in Sanskrit which was included in this thus—that was my guru, the sage-like Acharya Parvati taught me my very first shloka on Sattvika sukha from And so, after my tenth standard, he expressed his unique lithography that enabled one to pen down the Kumar (1921–2012). the Bhagavad Gita: desire that I get a degree in Sanskrit. The rebellious tala aspect, music aspect including svaras or text as Guruji and I had an age difference of 50 years. The Yat tad agram visamivam parinamamamruto param | young lady that I was, I rejected the idea and even well as the dance movements along with the adavu present generation would slight it off as a ‘generation Tat sukham saatvikam prokshamam aatma buddhi left my house in disagreement. But I suppose my shola clearly. The dance notations mentioned not gap’. However, not once did I experience this prasadajam || unflinching faith and perseverance led me to not only only the adavu patterns in nritta, but also the hands, supposed generation gap. In 1977, from the first time (That which seems like poison at first, but tastes like successfully complete my Bachelor’s and Master’s feet, postures, gestures, directions, movements of that I stepped into his abode when he affectionately nectar in the end, is said to be happiness in the mode in Sanskrit, but also attain a PhD in Natyashastra. I head, eyes, neck, etc. along with the bhavas whilst addressed me as ‘bacchu’, almost instantly, the pious of goodness. It is generated by the pure intellect that would believe this is a very important life lesson for writing abhinaya. bond between guru and shishya was so magnetic is situated in self-knowledge.) today’s generation—obeying your elders sculpts Guruji was a multifaceted artiste—a nrityacharya that it felt like we had years and years of a divine He taught me that Indian classical dance is ingrained a lifespan. (dance guru), ballet choreographer, dance director connection. But, Guruji, like a true rishi, was not one with values and dance education does not merely Constancy or patience is another valuable virtue, for films who was equipped with a deep knowledge to accept a student under his tutelage without a test. comprise the physical act of dance and music, but is, the lack of which is evident in today’s youth. The of the scriptures. Amidst the versatility, he ensured Right at his doorstep he questioned me, “Why do you in essence, an art of living life itself. desire to get immediate results, to stand first, to the authenticity and sanctity of each of the avenues want to learn dance? And what do you wish to do with obtain 95 per cent marks, etc. stirred by heavy he worked in, presenting new dimensions within this learning?” As a little girl in the fifth grade, in all A strong footing competition have put at stake morals and values. the respective tradition, thus garnering immense my naïvety I responded, “I want to become a guru like And thus began my training, rooted in the foundation Owing to Guruji’s teachings, we had the blessing of appreciation. This was unlike present times, where yourself and start a college of dance.” Pleased upon of satva. Most fascinating was the methodology Guruji being instilled with this virtue—dhairya. one finds folk steps in classical dance, or classical

20 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 21 dance in a film song, or fusion creating confusion. After an austere penance of two years, on Dussera, Guruji’s works in each sector were regarded as Guruji said to me, “Rise—from today you will begin superlative. This was a big lesson for us students, to dancing. Show me the Todi Varnam that I was realise that every field has its own specialities and teaching over the past two years.” And with tears whilst preserving that core tradition, with minimum welling up in my eyes, I presented the Varnam without blends, it is possible to work in various avenues of any mistakes. And it occurred to me then that there is dance. Whilst propagating the symbiotic relation learning even in the Guru’s punishment. between theory and practice, he also made us conscious of the fact that if there is ever a conflict Lessons for life between theory and tradition, always surrender to Time-bound training does not apply between a guru tradition, the customary practice which he taught us and shishya. Till the time the guru teaches and the through Panini’s verse ‘Shastrar Rudhiyah Baliyasi’. student learns, there should be no one to interfere or Even one who has profound knowledge of the cause hindrance. And fortunately, not only did I learn Sanskrit shastras gives due acknowledgement to that way, but my students also continue to learn the traditional practice. Parampara is greater than the same way. Once I begin teaching, neither students art. Perhaps this is why he learnt from a devadasi and nor their parents have stopped me to say, ‘It’s time his guru compositions from the traditional repertoire to leave the children’, or ‘class hours are over’. Within like Alaripu, Jatiswaram, Shabdam, Varnam, Padam, constraints of time, it is nearly impossible to teach Tillana, etc. Without any tinkering, he classical dance, or any Indian art for delivered this tradition to the next that matter. generation and in this manner, he When Guruji It is impossible to sum up in these was one of the first gurus to have few pages the three decades of preserved the Thanjavur Bani of explained bhava, my life that I have cherished under Bharatanatyam. Quite contrary he would narrate a Guruji’s haven. To recount each to the present when one learns a memory, his teachings and values traditional composition from their Puranic legend, or and his blessings would require guru, but then adds their own nothing less than a novel. little element and projects the an example from An austere guru, a virtuous composition as their own novel history or refer to an soul on the inside, he was caring, creation. This not only destroys compassionate and soft-hearted. the tradition but also prevents ancient treatise in Narikela samaakara drushyanteapi seamless passage of the original order to embed that sajjanah tradition to the next generation. Anye badarikakara bahireva So one must be mindful not emotion deep into the manohara to tamper with the traditional (The virtuous appear like a compositions and instead to student’s heart and coconut—hard on the outside but pass them on rightfully. And of soul, and then allow it soft on the inside—whereas others course, to attempt one’s own are like the Jujubi tree’s fruit, only creations excluding the traditional to organically manifest look beautiful on the outside, but compositions. through the body bitter on the inside.) I had heard that Guruji would Just like that if Guruji ever often lose his temper whilst teaching. scolded us or was angry at us, he But I rarely ever got to see that side. In fact, his himself would pacify us by making tea or would treatment of me was different. He used silence as a gently call out to his wife saying, ‘Suma, give her tool over anger, or better still, would stop teaching some tea.’ No one would leave Guruji’s house without me and that was indication enough that I had being served tea, snacks or a meal. Throughout his faltered. But his ire was such that when I made one lifetime, his dear wife Sumati tai whom we fondly call small mistake, Guruji did not teach me for two years. Amma, lovingly served Guruji and catered to every But the devoted disciple that I was, I did not give up. I guest with sheer hospitality and warmth. Guruji and continued to go to his house every day for those two Amma were ideal companions and maybe that is why years, from 9 am until 9 pm and sat by his side. That their abode was like a temple for all of us students. was when I experienced learning by just being under the refuge of a wise man (Panditanupashrayati). There Sandhya Purecha is a celebrated Bharatanatyam is a beautiful Sanskrit verse describing the student – danseuse, Sanskrit scholar and academician, Founder Yah pathati likahti pashyati paripruchhyati Principal of the Bharata College of Fine Arts & Culture. panditaanupshrayati She has been a beloved disciple of Acharya Parvati Tasya divakarkiranai nalini dalamivamatinani vikasyate Kumar and has received many accolades for her work, buddhi the most recent being the the Sangeet Natak Akademi (A disciple is who one reads, writes, learns, questions Award in 2017. Remembering Parvati Kumar & Rajee and is under the refuge of wise men. It is in the counsel Narayan, an evening dedicated to two luminaries in and teachings of such a master that the intellect and the field of arts, will be presented on 19th February at knowledge blossoms.) the Experimental Theatre.

22 • March 2021 NCPA

HARMONY

 A scene from Vishkhadatta’s Mudrarakshasa performed at Weimar (GDR) in 1976 A MAN FOR ALL

 A scene from the Marathi SEASONS version of Kalidasa’s Shakuntal Bhaskar Chandavarkar, a multifaceted maestro, had an elemental love of music. By choosing to share this love with the world as composer, teacher and writer, he enhanced it in immeasurable ways. To mark his 85th birth anniversary this month, Arun Khopkar writes about the man who not only created great music, but also spent his life teaching and nurturing it in all its forms.

haskar Chandavarkar with its strength. was truly a man with The musical instruments B a musical mission. It acquired bodies through was his conviction that music the labour of those never- springs from the deepest spoken-of instrument- spiritual yearnings of man makers. Bhaskar had and fulfils his vital personal, great respect for them, social and spiritual needs. who mostly come from His immense musical activity, the ‘lowest’ steps of our spread over half a century, caste system, as the work was guided by it. He gave involves animal skins and performances, composed guts. Once, I accompanied music for 43 feature-length him to the workshop of the films in six Indian languages. Kendurkars, the famous His music for theatre was Pune-based makers of heard in more than 50 plays, percussion instruments. and Water by Shiv Kumar Sharma. Bhaskar’s in English, Marathi, Hindi, He was greeted with great Seasons, vaguely reminiscent of Vivaldi’s The Kannada, German and even affection by the old owner. Four Seasons and Debussy’s La Mer, evoked Japanese. He presented It was a meeting of two India’s seasonal cycle. His two albums sold over half a dozen theatrical and artistes with mutual respect. a million copies in the East and the West. The old man showed multimedia productions,  A scene from the German version of Girish which included some of Bhaskar Chandavarkar composed music for directors Bhaskar some of his latest Karnad’s Hayvadana performed in Wiemar (GDR) Influence and inspiration the finest poems in Marathi like Mrinal Sen, Girish Karnad, Aparna Sen, Amol creations, made with all the Two long interviews of Bhaskar, included in his Palekar, among others, in languages as diverse as set to music, a ballet and a Kannada, Bengali, Marathi love and care he would lavish book, Rangbhaskar, tell us about his life and programme of festive music. on a grandchild. work. Bhaskar, when he was one year old, lost He wrote substantial essays about music, participated As a man who loved music in all its avatars, Bhaskar his father. His mother came to stay with the in international seminars, held workshops and lectured enjoyed creating music for dazzling spectacles. In his family of her brother, where he was surrounded about music in various national and international fora, dreamlike account of the closing of the Festival of with music, theatre and literature. Later, he got in English, Hindi and Marathi, with equal fluency. India in Moscow, he writes, ‘It was a never-before-and- involved with theatre groups of college friends, never-again experience. I was controlling the entire watched Hollywood films and Indian classics Instrumental elements ceremony from my booth…a vast stadium was filled of Satyajit Ray and Tapan Sinha. When he First and foremost an instrumentalist, the variety with music. It had elephants and horses parading. The started learning the sitar from Ravi Shankar, he and diversity of our musical instruments fascinated stage was 500 feet long, with three large ballet troupes saw these films again and again to understand Bhaskar. He sensed that their ability to create varied performing on it. There were many film screens, 90 to the maestro’s film music. Bhaskar admired his acoustic spaces was integral to our musical genius. 100 feet tall…A girl mounted on horseback galloped wide range of musical creations and decided to He wanted people to experience it. He composed through all this. Lighting maestro Tapas Sen provided follow in his footsteps. music for them, for the spectacular national parades spectacular effects.’ Life was never a bed of roses for Bhaskar. It held on Republic Day. One year, he used only Bhaskar also created albums of pure music. The was an arduous and long journey. He had an aerophones. Another year, he restricted himself to Elements series was produced by Music Today, intrepid spirit, a growing assurance about his

membranophones. Drums of India, marking 50 years with Fire by Bhaskar, Space by Zakir Hussain, Wind destiny and the grit to turn it into reality. He DR. MEHTA VIJAYA of the Indian Republic, made the Delhi walls tremble by Hariprasad Chaurasia, Earth by Vanraj Bhatia CHANDAVARKAR MEENA COURTESY  A scene from the German version of Girish Karnad’s Naga-Mandala performed in Berlin 24 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 25 A scene from Vijay Tendulkar’s Ghashiram Kotwal, for which Chandavarkar’s music received much critical acclaim

 Chandavarkar receiving the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award with Girish Karnad in the background

language of cinema. Bhaskar has chef-d’œuvre Though hundreds written a deeply moving account In Ghashiram of pages have been written about of how this alcoholic genius it, I would like to make a couple of created music for a short film, Kotwal, it is Bhaskar’s points. It was his sheer audacity to deep-diving into the darkness inner anguish about combine completely diverse musical of drunken torpor and suddenly forms like Art music, theatre music, appearing on the crest of lucidity the moral corruption kirtan, lavani, thumri, vaghya murali and creating genial music. and the resultant songs, Wanjari folk songs, women’s Bhaskar’s film scoring started songs, qawwali, bharud, gondhal, with the shorts of FTII students. cruelty of our chants, recitation and ludic music. In 1971, he worked on his first society, witnessed As Bhaskar’s grasp of the theatrical feature, Vamshavruksha, directed needs of each moment is so firm, by his cousin Girish Karnad and even today, that gives its narrative comes out bold. Each B. V. Karanth. Later, he worked musical piece is presented in its with Shahani, Nirad Mahapatra, his music its power pristine purity and yet, together they K. G. George and Saeed Mirza, create scathingly ironic music. There with whom he shared a film culture. Even when he is no musical parody, but the very juxtaposition of did not know the language in which a film was being these pure pieces with the events of the play, creates made, he understood its cinematic language and the a severe critique of a merciless society. It is Bhaskar’s needs of its film scores. inner anguish about the moral corruption and the Literature and theatre were an integral part of his resultant cruelty of our society, witnessed even today,

 Recording for Vamshavruksha in 1971 life since his childhood, shared with his cousin Karnad that gives his music its power. It is the power of the with B. V. Karanth and Mohammed Rafi during their vacations. Bhaskar’s grasp of narrative curse of an anguished and tormented artiste that has

 With Ravi Shankar and Bhupen Hazarika structures and techniques were his strength. He turned into the agonised wail of a shloka. had to argue with his family to choose music as a worked with Vijaya Mehta on classical Sanskrit plays Many imitations of Ghashiram have sprung up since, way of life. He needed to support himself through his like Mudrarakshas and Shakuntal and the primeval as every classic spawns mediocre imitators. They earnings as a sessions musician, music teacher, and his collection of essays, Chitrabhaskar. He traces its mythic narratives of Karnad’s plays like Naga-Mandala resemble the original, as much as a worthless piece of travelled to the U.K. in winter with just one warm coat history, from the live music of the silent cinema, up and Hayavadana. The former led him to study the glass resembles a dazzling diamond. The diamond’s and searched for concerts there. A happenstance led to our times, and gives us very fine portraits of Ritwik Natyashastra and the latter to study Tantric art and light is strong on account of the divine geometry of its to his scoring and playing the sitar for Nine Hours Ghatak, Ilaiyaraaja, C. Ramchandra, Raj Kapoor and ritualistic chants. The naturalistic plays Mehta directed, crystal-clear heart. A piece of glass has only surface to Rama, a British film directed by Mark Robson and A. R. Rahman. needed contemporary and period music. glitter, but no heart. Bhaskar made the best of it. Bhaskar’s view of music had an overarching frame This is a homage to Bhaskar from a student, who When you look at his bedouin years, you understand Powerful notes of reference of aesthetic, ethical and socio-historical was privileged to have him as guide, friend and the empathy he had for the composers and musicians During his period of struggle, one day Bhaskar was factors and was based on a deeply humanistic philosopher. of Hindi film music. Many were boys who had run away called to The Film and Television Institute of India Renaissance vision of life. It resulted in nuanced and from their families and had little or no formal training, (FTII) for a sitar session for a ‘Bengali film director’. He layered music in his works. His experience of parallel Arun Khopkar is an award-winning filmmaker and a but were able to pick up tunes from here and there, was Ghatak, one of the world’s great directors. He took productions in Germany and India, with Mehta and recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award. His book and turn them into musical gold. Their wanderings to Bhaskar easily. Soon, he came to the FTII as a vice Fritz Bennewitz, along with his extensive travels within Guru Dutt: A Tragedy in Three Acts won the National had given them the ability to have their fingers on principal and sent for Bhaskar to work as a musician. and without the country gave him a truly cosmopolitan Award for the best book on cinema. He has edited the musical pulse of the masses and turn its beats Bhaskar sat at his feet, along with Kumar Shahani and open view of life. I think it was what made him so two collections of essays in Marathi by Bhaskar into the rhythms of their catchy tunes. Bhaskar pays and Mani Kaul and soon became a serious student special as a man and an artiste. Chandavarkar—Chitrabhaskar (on cinema) and

homage to the Hindi film music and its creators, in of cinema. Ghatak opened their eyes and ears to the CHANDAVARKAR MEENA COURTESY Undoubtedly, Ghashiram Kotwal was Bhaskar’s Rangbhaskar (on theatre). THEATRE ACADEMY, PUNE

26 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 27 EUPHONY Soul Custody With treasured R&B and blues classics as part of the line-up, Keshia B is paying tribute to an army of women who have broken boundaries, redefined music, lived and loved on their own terms and in the process, become custodians of music for the soul.

By Ela Das

f anyone were to go through their music break was through gospel music. After I completed library, irrespective of the genres they listen my master’s in English literature, I began my studio to, they would find within their collection a career as a singer and voice-over artiste in both few (if not many) of the great female singers advertising and Bollywood films. When I was not whose contribution to their art has not only lending my voice to jingles and music albums, I Ibeen tremendous but also withstood the test of time, toured across the country and overseas [with well- staying relevant through the decades, influencing known artistes]. I have also had the privilege of generations of singers along the way. As a child, working with the country’s best music directors and singer-songwriter, recording artiste and performer, artistes.” When she performed in popular music Keshia B was introduced to different styles of music shows on Indian television, her soulful voice with by her parents, ranging from jazz to country, which hints of funk and gospel showcased her immense helped her discover her interest in singing. “I was talent and diverse singing power. She also made continuously drawn to certain artistes such as her theatre debut as Mrs. Bumble in the Broadway Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan and Diana Ross; and rendition of Oliver Twist, and is now working on when I started to sing in competitions, I was always releasing her own original R&B album. told I sound like a black woman—that was when I knew that soul music was in my blood,” she recalls. Tributes and teachings Beginning her musical journey at the age of 10, Paying homage to the music that has inspired her she went on to vocally train at the P. G. Garodia career, Keshia B will be presenting a diva special Conservatoire in Mumbai, winning the top spot at the NCPA this month to highlight the dynamic at several college and state-level competitions and unique voices of strong female artistes and including India’s Gospel Concert Glory and the musicians across the decades. “The beauty of these Times of India Voice Hunt in 2008. “My journey and women, along with their ability to brilliantly tell

NCPA March 2021 • 29 and confusion that you feel, and how the lyrics of a song make you think of several things happening around you,” says Keshia. She recalls the first time she sang ‘Because You Loved Me’ by Celine Dion—a song she has always dedicated to her mother— while she was a student at Sophia College during its festival Kaleidoscope. “My mum loved my rendition of it, and would swell with pride each time she heard me sing it. After she passed away in 2010, this song was even more sentimental and meaningful for me. And when I sang it at the festival, a girl came up to me after and shared how she too had lost her mum a week ago and needed to hear the same song that day because it made her feel connected to the parent she’d lost.” The power of many life stories that continue to echo through music is something she has witnessed throughout her career, where every verse and lyric grows a newer, deeper meaning each time she sings it for a different audience. A connection with the song, and the emotions and feelings it evokes in the listener makes it timeless. “The music of the artistes I will be showcasing is still relevant, and the rhythm is still catchy and will get you on your feet. Even today, older compositions and even their original scores are still being used as building blocks for creating newer sounds,” she says. Younger listeners might be familiar with Norwegian Clockwise from top left: electronic DJ Kygo, who recently used riffs of Whitney Houston, Houston’s ‘Higher Love’ to create a single that was Tina Turner, played on repeat across the summer of 2019; while Donna Summer, Diana Ross, in 1980, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd famously Chaka Khan, crossed their budget, creating a stir at Universal Aretha Franklin Studios, to cast the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin, in their musical comedy filmThe Blues Brothers to give it the pitch-perfect star power it needed to reel up comprising Gloria Gaynor, Houston, Khan, Donna in audiences. The main reason a show such as One Night Only Summer, Tina Turner, Etta James and Franklin, Keshia adds to this sentiment. “If you notice, Keshia has selected singers that were ahead of today’s contemporary music, too, has taken inserts will be timeless is because the music and the their time with their music and songwriting, and from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and used it to revamp whose life stories unravel love and struggle with a an old song to create a newer one. This way, it feeds story behind each song always connects with the sense of vulnerability—something listeners try to all age groups and types of listeners. Bands such { { channel in some way through the songs they listen as Postmodern Jukebox have taken contemporary listener’s individual life to. “These artistes taught me what it was to lose songs and converted them with ’40s-style jazz, swing yourself to music, while enjoying what you do—that and vintage soul beats. A band called Scary Pockets is the most important thing. Their confidence and produces funk covers of older songs, making them stories through their songs, is what I will uncover begin to look at the story of their lives behind rhythm is what taught future artistes to build and sound completely fresh and new. The audience that for the audience. We have heard the names of the scenes, I realise that they have all had simple grow and, quite simply, be themselves,” she says. these bands garner is unbelievable, which makes these female singers before, but I am hoping that beginnings and worked very hard to get where they “Contemporary artistes such as Alicia Keys, Erykah each tune stay relevant and enjoyable.” the people watching the show will leave with a are—be it with their looks, the lives they built and Badu and Rachelle Ferrell have taught me the true Keshia is especially looking forward to the new-found respect for them and also discover new their vocals. I strongly connect with that and feel meaning of technique and the beautiful aspects of audiences at the NCPA, which to her feels like home. female artistes in the current industry. I will be motivated to believe that we can all reach great a song, and how it can be created and sung. For “I have fond memories of my last show, Beyond singing across genres such as R&B, pop, jazz and heights by simply and honestly believing in our me, the main technique of R&B and soul music is the Stars, in November 2019—what an incredibly funk, which will culminate in the fresh and new-age talent.” finding a way to feel the raw emotion behind the energetic audience! This show is twice as special neo-soul tunes that began to gain notoriety during Pairing a mix of older divas with newer singers lyrics, to connect with the words, making the song since I have a new concept to showcase and, with the late ’80s and early ’90s,” she explains. from recent times, Keshia has created a set which come alive.” the last year that we’ve all experienced, I really Not only influencing her style of singing but will give the audience a glimpse of classic songs, want to give my audience a chance to leave their also helping shape her on-stage persona, Keshia but with a twist—she might change the rendition Timeless treasures worries at home and spend an evening reminiscing attributes Aretha Franklin for her confidence, Khan or genre of the song. She will also be introducing “The main reason a show such as One Night Only the classics, while discovering new music.” for her bold personality, Houston for her raw vocals newer styles and artistes that have not been heard will be timeless is because the music and the story and Adele for a balance between tender and edgy before but have played a great role in changing the behind each song always connects with the listener’s One Night Only – A Diva Special will be presented by

vocals. “When I watch these artistes perform and landscape of R&B and neo-soul music. With a line- individual life—the love, pain, struggle, happiness Keshia B on 6th March at the Experimental Theatre. NEWSITAR-TASS AGENCY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (HOUSTON); GARY GERSHOFF/MEDIAPUNCH/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (TURNER);GETTY MICHAEL IMAGES PUTLAND/ (SUMMER); DOMINIQUE CHARRIAU/WIREIMAGE (ROSS); SHUTTERSTOCK (KHAN); TOM HANLEY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO (FRANKLIN)

30 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 31 IN MEMORIAM The Eternal

With Manipuri dancers at the Sunken Garden at the NCPA

hen I talked to Astad Deboo on of a hostile cultural universe stemmed from his oddball Contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo was well versed in the language of the 19th of August, it was one of position in the dance world: the fact that he was neither Outlier those rare lockdown conversations classical dancer nor Bollywood entertainer. Astad rebellion, the kind that broke ground, made history and in unprecedented ways, championed both that didn’t leave me dispirited. remained, in many ways, the eternal outlier. His work unknown artistes and innovative idioms. Astad’s energies were usually tense. was abstract and restlessly experimental a long time DefinitelyW not a verbal man, conversations, I believe, before the Indian dance world had the theoretical fatigued him. He was, essentially, a dancer, waiting to hospitality or cultural vocabulary to accommodate By Arundhathi Subramaniam unleash his restless, bristling energies on stage. Now, such forays. Even when grudgingly acknowledged however, his tone was measured, even, positive. He by the academy, he retained his position of slippery spoke of his daily evening walks along Marine Drive, his ‘betweenness’, standing on the edge of varied lexicons, concern at the ill health of a family member, his efforts to never lingering within any single grammar long enough offer economic support to his martial art collaborators to toe the party line. from Manipur. He sent me a message afterwards: ‘Great I have watched Astad’s work for over three-and-a-half chatting with you.’ I felt likewise. decades now. I remember being particularly excited by Thanatomorphia, a collaboration with puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee, in the early Astad’s sensibility was too quirky, his 1990s. The visual drama and scale, the energy and alchemical magic of mask idiom too idiosyncratic for the cultural and movement, were unique. Here was a establishment to know what to make of him; dancer making the kind of work that few were at the time. And yet, his sensibility he belonged to a landless minority of one, was too quirky, his idiom too idiosyncratic for the cultural establishment to know and he would have had it no other way what to make of him. Astad belonged, as I often told him, to a landless minority It was our last conversation. By 10th December, Astad of one. And he would have had it no other way. was no more. Indian contemporary dance lost one of His spirit of enquiry started early. Although he had its most prominent choreographers; Mumbai lost its trained in Kathak as a young boy in Jamshedpur, the most significant experimental artistes; and I lost an pivotal moment occurred when he watched a Murray artiste friend whose courage, commitment and creative Louis performance in Mumbai. Why, he wondered, audacity I admired deeply. spellbound, did dance in India have to be so fettered Despite his many collaborations, Astad exuded by traditional content, so bound by rigid syntactic the air of a solitarist. He charted his life with the rules? How could one evolve a movement language doggedness of a crusader, a pioneer who knew that was rigorous but fluid, expressive and personal? that struggle and grit-toothed endurance were an Painters in post-Independence India seemed to be integral part of his journey. This self-perception of asking themselves those questions, but the dance “misunderstood artiste” puzzled me initially. Here, world seemed largely busy reconstructing a classical after all, was a dancer who travelled and performed heritage. That was the beginning of Astad’s long- more than many. The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award standing creative ferment. for his contribution to creative dance (1995) and the Always a man of action—both onstage and off—the Padma Shri (2007) came to him arguably later than 21-year-old packed his bags, boarded a cargo ship from they ought, but they did not pass him by. Mumbai harbour, hitchhiked his way through Europe It took me time to realise how much his perception and reached New York five years later. The aim was At the NCPA ADD ART 24Festival • October in November 2019 NCPA 2019 NCPA March 2021 • 33 At the NCPA ADD ART Festival in November 2019

simple: to make some money out of performance and sadhana he observed scrupulously. Of course, on a 17- to use that money to learn dance. He did just that. In show performance tour of South Africa in 2003, this those years of adventure and apprenticeship, Astad meant that he spent most of his time famished. evolved a hybrid idiom—an amalgam of elements As he grew older, he journeyed from solo to garnered from Martha Graham, Kathakali, José Limón, collaborative work, allowing a varied cast of characters Kathak, Japanese folk dances, jazz, classical ballet and to share the stage with him: from theatre actors Pina Bausch. Some viewers were to dismiss his work as to hearing-impaired dancers, musicians to street a heap of quotations, an intercultural goulash. But his children, Pung Cholom drummers to Thang-ta martial self-possession and creative effrontery were impossible artistes. Donald Hutera of The Times, London, once to ignore, and drew many die hard admirers. “I never described him as a ‘diva without attitude’. I recognised wanted to be a clone of anyone here or anywhere else. the truth of that observation. For all his achievements, I was never turning West to discover myself,” he often Astad was a man of humility. “I guess it’s because my declared. “Though I drew from various idioms, I’ve never essential self-image is that of a worker, not a prima felt uprooted from my Indian context. Of course, my donna,” was his rationale. work keeps changing, but I’ve always wanted to evolve Over the years, he learnt to view the ageing body less my own signature. I believe I have.” as limitation than possibility. “My dance has become Astad’s dance eluded easy definition. He disconcerted more minimal, more focused, more centred,” he said. both the high priests of orthodoxy and the pashas of “There’s greater maturity with age. I don’t simply prance heresy. His ecumenism made him too contemporary for around the stage; my energy is more concentrated, less the former; his forays into representational content and dissipated.” He believed he was now doing the kind of his use of facial abhinaya didn’t make him edgy enough work only his body was capable of. Never interested in for the latter. He wasn’t ‘classical’ enough to be kosher decorativeness or mere virtuosity, he now saw poise in India; he wasn’t ‘modern’ enough to be kosher in and stillness as new ways to inhabit his body, to hold a the West. Marching to the beat of one’s own drum, he moment on stage. realised, often meant being out of step with the cultural Committed though he was to helping upcoming dogmas of the moment. dancers, he nursed no temptation to start his own dance For Astad, the body was both instrument and academy. “I’ve had to struggle, and I’d like to make it compass. His preoccupations were always grittily easier for a younger generation. But I’m essentially a kinetic, never merely intellectual. He asked questions free spirit. I feed off my interactions with the martial about expansion, transformation, danger, velocity and artistes and deaf dancers, for instance, and part of me distillation in and through the physical. He never relied lives on in their work. That’s enough for me.” on slick programme notes to do the work for him. He admitted to being uncomfortable when things In a retrospective session in 2019 (organised by the went too well. “I don’t like to feel too settled. I’m not a dance group, beej), he did not allow himself the luxury masochist, but I know most of my work has grown out of a nostalgic life-audit. Instead, he made his point of a certain amount of pain. It’s the unrest that keeps viscerally, leaping out of his chair and banging his head me on the edge. I know I’ve accomplished a great deal. on the floor to suggest the torment of drug addiction But the past is behind me; there is much still left to in one of his early productions. He stuck syringes into achieve.” himself in that work, he recalled. He spoke of much else The past now lies behind him forever. And it is a too: his performances on sidewalks and catwalks, at the past that befits a trailblazer—one committed to being NCPA and the CST railway station, at the Guruvayur multilingual and borderless even when those choices temple in Kerala and the Annual Deaf Olympics in weren’t entirely recognised or supported. Between the Melbourne, the times he slithered down the walls of tense binaries of purism and populism, Astad Deboo St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, plunged into a pool in choreographed a life path with grace, dignity and Chandigarh, leapt up the fort of Champaner and even fearless eclecticism. While the music he employed in cavorted atop the Great Wall of China! his productions could be Philip Glass, dhrupad or even For all his love of risk, Astad treated his body with care. rap, the tune to which he danced was always, to the He told me that he never ate on the day he performed—a very end, entirely his own.

34 • March 2021 NCPA Culture Digest Kaleidoscope Your window to the latest in the performing arts across India and the world.

musical performances in places where they were originally presented during the war. A powerful, award-winning documentary that brings into the limelight a little-known facet of the Holocaust, The Music of Terezín is now available online, thanks to ORT, at holocaustmusic.ort.org/places/ theresienstadt/the-music-of-terezin

For a song Australian composer Andrew Ford has just broken one of his own rules. ‘I am currently composing music without quite knowing what I’m doing or why I’m doing it,’ he writes. The ambivalence, though, Lost and found ends there. For Red Dirt Hymns, he has The organisers of this year’s edition of commissioned some of Australia’s best Belgium’s largest classical music event, poets to write lyrics about love, hope, Klarafestival, have found inspiration in forgiveness and much more, which he the words written on the facade of the Spanish bachata champions Marco then sets to music. As a non-believer, he lost property office at Wuppertal station, and Sara, ballroom dancer Pasquale La insists that hymns are not exclusively powerful words that bear repeating Rocca and kizomba dancers Isabelle and religious but are, in essence, about the now more than ever: es ist noch nicht Félicien. For more information, visit strength of a feeling or a moment. His alles verloren! (All is not lost). In the www.istanbuldancefest.com aim is to make music that is simple and first-ever completely digital edition of the festival, lovers of classical music Striking notes will get to enjoy at least a dozen audio- A place of terror, imprisonment and visual projects on the Klara app and on imminent death, the ghetto of Terezín in their official website between 13th and Czechoslovakia during the Second World 22nd March. Performances by the War was also a place where extraordinary Belgian baroque orchestra B’Rock, the creativity thrived against all odds. A pit Berlin-based STEGREIF.orchester, stop for Jewish prisoners about to be sent the Brussels ensemble Het Collectief, to the concentration camps at Auschwitz, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra are the ghetto had within its walls composers scheduled, and additional collaborations and musicians who created beautiful with Brussels Philharmonic, Ictus music in circumstances that were and Collegium Vocale Gent are in the anything but that. In 1993, a BBC/ works. For more information, visit Czech TV film,The Music of Terezín, was www.klarafestival.be/en filmed in the ghetto and included archival footage, interviews with survivors and Stepping up The 9th edition of the Istanbul International Dance Festival promises to be a happy whirlwind of established artistes, enthusiastic learners and serious most importantly, useful, especially at a connoisseurs. From 24th to 31st March, time when much of the world is reeling. It the historic city will be pulsing with is a work in progress, but you can listen to energy as artistes from around the world the remarkably atmospheric first hymn, prepare to showcase their talents in ‘Gone’, sung by vocalist Gian Slater and forms as diverse as salsa, tango, ballroom, written by Jordie Albiston, on Ford’s bachata and kizomba. The festival will also Soundcloud. For more information, visit include concerts, bootcamps, workshops, www.andrewford.net.au private lessons with, among many others, - Vipasha Aloukik Pai ANTWERP SYMPHONY_VINCENT CALLOT (KLARAFESTIVAL); SHUTTERSTOCK (ISTANBUL DANCE FEST); WIKIMEDIA COMMONS (THE MUSIC OF TEREZÍN); JIM ROLON (ANDREW FORD)

NCPA March 2021 •35 STAGECRAFT

t was Bombay’s well-defined skyline the base for INT (Indian Moti Antia, Pheroze Antia, that saved this theatre actor some National Theatre). As INT Mani Bamboat and Mani Patel in Wah re Behram embarrassment. Courting his fiancée had a Gujarati and a Parsi at Tejpal Hall more than fifty years ago, Kanti Madia was theatre wing, we moved by indulgently showing her the beautiful view turns to Tejpal, Patkar, Birla from the lofty vantage point called Cafe and Bhaidas in Vile Parle. Play INaaz. His raised finger froze mid-air as it skimmed We would be completely over the top of the distinct dome crowning Bharatiya lost without a weekend Vidya Bhavan. Suddenly, it dawned on him—he play to perform though, should have been in there instead. Writer-director fortunately, that did not Adi Marzban luckily covered for him, albeit from the happen often.” Halls wings, silkily ad-libbing chunks of Madia’s dialogue With his wife Ruby, Patel till the next entry. had a lead role in the powerhouse ensemble cast Bright beginnings of Piroja Bhavan in 1954. Marzban was introduced to Girish Munshi, the Presented by Bharatiya son of Kanhaiyalal Munshi, trustees of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, the game- and Vidya Bhavan, by veteran actor-producer Burjor changer production’s Patel. Under the Kala Kendra banner, Co-operative inaugural run notched up Players (Marzban’s company with producer Pesi over 30 nights in those days Khandalavala) launched Piroja Bhavan. The play when five to six shows were birthed a whole new stage lexicon of realism, considered decent business. With dramatic revolving says Patel. “Tejpal on the schedule meant good Curtain catapulting the modern Parsi natak to unprecedented sets perched at multiple levels and technically box-office pickings.” success. It was soon followed by the memorable polished rain scenes with fog machine effects, this Cooversha Lala of Tejpal, Burjor (Dicky) Pavri of Mota Dil Na Mota Bawa, studded with talents as was Marzban’s artful adaptation of Kaufman and Birla, Sam Kerawalla of Patkar and Jimmy Pocha stellar as Homi Tavadia, Minoo Davar, Piloo Wadia, Hart’s history-mocker, George Washington Slept of Bhulabhai Desai and later Sophia Bhabha hall, Dinoo Nicholson, Jimmy Pocha, Nader Nariman, Here. Involving bizarre logistics, it coaxed a fantastic remained a friendly foursome. Lala attributes Tejpal’s Kanti Madia, Villoo Panthaky, Sorab Modi, and Ruby menagerie of horses, cattle and goats to trot onto popularity to cheap rent, good lights, quality mikes Calls and Burjor Patel. the floorboards each night. “Arre, aaje bakri ne taap “and garma garam batata wadas that they were the Meher Marfatia maps the hubs and The “House Full” board was a comfortingly familiar chhe,” was the tender concern first to sell during the interval”. haunts of Parsi theatre in the heyday of sight for drama buffs at venues like Bharatiya when an animal with even Hot snacks served under this genre in Bombay. Vidya Bhavan, Tejpal, Patkar and Bhulabhai Desai mild fever was restrained from Gujarati management were auditoriums. “Work on Adi’s plays during our 12 making its stage appearance. strictly vegetarian, of course. years with him was at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,” Theatre managers ensured Piroja Bhavan Trust the Parsis to pay no heed recalls Burjor Patel. “The Jai Hind College hall was that the stars, both two-legged to that hitch, instead carrying and four, were comfortable and birthed a whole their own packed pora-pao audiences left happy enough to (omelette sandwiches). The much-loved qawwali scene from Laughter in never demand ticket refunds. new stage lexicon “Birla Auditorium hosted our the House 1, premiered at the Tata Theatre in 2012 These men ruled, wooed of realism, Sunday night adda,” reminisces by producers and directors actress Moti Antia, whose writer- clamouring for coveted catapulting director-actor husband Pheroze show dates. Competitive yet Antia etched a signature collaborative, they had staying the modern character: the bumbling, power too. Cooversha Lala, henpecked hero Behram. Along for instance, managed Tejpal Parsi natak to with playwrights and producers, Auditorium for 35 years from its the quartet of managers met inception in September 1960. unprecedented regularly in a room near Pavri’s office, down a passage from The right spots success the auditorium. “We’d enjoy At the time, impresarios vied nice rounds of theatre gossip fiercely for four main halls, and discussion over dinner with not necessarily on de rigueur dates like New Year drinks,” Antia recollects. “I often took curry rice there and Khordad Sal alone. They were Tejpal on the or khariyas (paya) with brun bread.” Interestingly, slope up from Gowalia Tank, Birla at New Marine Pavri was both a pagri-wearing priest and manager Lines, Patkar at Churchgate and Bhulabhai Desai of Birla. The 1100-seater theatre he looked after was Auditorium at Back Bay. Like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan initially a lecture hall for doctors. before it, Tejpal boasted serial natak runs. “Getting a Describing what it was like to manage another Sunday evening show at Tejpal was like winning the theatre formed “by default”, Kerawalla explains

lottery—it was that tough to be allotted dates,” that Patkar was originally the badminton court for COURTESY MEHER MARFATIA

2436 • FebruaryMarch 2021 2020 NCPA NCPA NCPA March 2021 •37 Dolly and Bomi Dotiwala in the Piloo Wadi, Burjor Patel, very popular Ruby Patel, Dinshah Daji Sagan ke Vagan, and Dadi Sarkari (seated) 1966, at Tejpal Hall in Piroja Bhavan, 1954

young collegians of Sir Sitaram and Lady Shantabai Dotiwalas enacted poignant moments in Marzban’s Patkar’s SNDT Women’s University. With nine doors hit Sagan ke Vagan at Bhavan and Tejpal. Tickets welcoming people to 700 seats, the hall boasted for it sold snap within an hour of booking window Kabuki theatre-inspired apron stage extensions. shutters raising. Presented to theatregoers in 1961 in the musical Actors speak revue, Dhong Song, the Dotiwalas carved a niche Citing humourists P.G. Wodehouse, James Thurber, Sparking a historic revival of the genre, the NCPA As for the actors’ preference, as dramatic actors with W.W. Jacobs and Stephen Leacock as his comic presented two productions of Laughter in the House Ruby and Burjor Patel’s vote Sagan Ke Vagan. Bolstered influences, Marzban echoed most Parsi playwrights at the Tata Theatre between 2012 and 2017. Ten sell- goes to Tejpal for Gujarati by a rare bittersweet script when he said, in out shows of each of these rib-tickling revues, directed and Sophia for English plays. from Marzban—his metier a 1971 interview by thespian Sam Kerawalla, saw adored vintage stars With comfortable-sized green Sparking a historic being sparkling comedy—the to Bachi Karkaria: kick up their heels to dance and act in a spectacular rooms and excellent acoustics, revival of the play crossed 100 shows, a “People do not medley of skits and songs from their glory years. Tejpal staged long-running record marked with no less want to leave The backstage dynamic is a beautiful mix of plays from the pen of Pheroze genre, the NCPA than a really well-attended tragedy behind learning and playing. Few exemplify this better than Antia, including Bapsy Bahr celebratory jashan at Colaba at home only to Dotiwala. A month after an accident cruelly claimed Pari, Mehera ne Khatar, Rangilo presented two Agiary. discover it has the vivacious Villoo Panthaky Kapadia, Parsi theatre Behram and Wah re Behram. The “Parsi plays had packed stalked them into lost another beloved performer. Having put in a last two were from the hilarious productions of houses at multiple halls on the the auditorium.” spirited song and dance turn at the dress rehearsal series chronicling the hysterical same evening,” Dolly recalled. No wonder of the Laughter sequel, 80-year-old Dolly Dotiwala antics of the unforgettable, Laughter in the “Balancing it out trickily, we there was that passed away the next morning. titular Behram. performed early items in the uproarious loud Setting aside the wrenching personal loss, Dotiwala Singing star Bomi Dotiwala and House at the Tata first half of a revue till the laughter in the bravely continued with a crackerjack opening night his wife Dolly also favoured Tejpal’s Theatre between interval and then rushed from house ringing presence, only an hour after her uthamna prayers. green rooms: capacious, well- Birla at Marine Lines to Bhavan through every The actor exuded dignity in distress. But his audience equipped with lighting facilities 2012 and 2017. at Chowpatty for our full- Bombay hall. And could not share such composure. There was barely and large mirrors. “Bhavan’s was length play.” may the curtain a dry eye in the theatre as he most movingly the more conveniently located Having co-starred with never drop down underscored a time-honoured stage ethic: tinged green room, with the shortest her husband Rohinton under on it all. with tragedy or not, the show must go on. distance for actors to cover on getting off stage,” Marzban’s direction, Scheherazade Mody says, “I did Dotiwala says. In his experience, the first two shows a lot of shows at Tejpal. It had a very warm ambience The House Full board For more on interesting multicultural traditions and of any play were watched mainly by Parsis. The ones with lovely green rooms. To me, the play mattered for hit shows of trends of Bombay in the last century, read Once Upon Piroja Bhavan was a after were patronised by a wonderful mix of Bohris but the theatre it was performed in was incidental. A fixture at Bharatiya A City by Meher Marfatia. Published by 49/50 Books, and Gujaratis. They laughed and cried when the stage is a stage.” COURTESY MEHER MARFATIA Vidya Bhavan it is available on Amazon and in select bookstores. COURTESY MEHER MARFATIA

38 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 39 OPINION

Performing Arts: Stand-up comedy A monthly column that explores any and every aspect of the performing and visual arts. This month, comedian and writer Anuvab Pal chronicles the journey of his show on the BritishEmpire, from the NCPA to the BBC.

There are, I have realised, only two how funny the Empire may have spots in the world left for discussing been, is uncomfortable for them, the legacy of the British Empire. as to modern Britain, the guilt And those are my two performing around it wants to say, it should not homes—the National Centre for the have happened in the first place. In Performing Arts (NCPA) and the other words, it is either too early to British Broadcasting Corporation laugh at it, and if a comedian from (BBC). I began my stand-up show a former colony must do jokes, then titled The Empire, about the funny they should berate us, and not say it remnants of the British Empire, at wasn’t all bad. the NCPA’s Experimental Theatre, It taught me a fundamental thinking it would be the right difference between the audiences spiritual home for it. It began with of the NCPA and the BBC when telling the audience that the show trying to make jokes about the would be done with an accent that Empire. Which is that the former sounded like the voice of Dr. Shashi are over it whereas the latter are Tharoor, journalist Karan Thapar not. My view of stories from history and The Prince of Wales had has always been a little different. been put through a blender. The Britain and India will always have audience laughed. a complicated history—much like South Mumbai and perhaps a marriage. However, just like a Kolkata, where I’m originally marriage needs confrontation to from, often need to be reminded survive and evolve, harsh history that the British have actually left. needs comedy to ask the tough The very Indo-Victorian culture questions. After all, whether ruler left behind since Independence is or ruled, art, including stand- ripe for comedy, starting with the up, is the great leveller because emphasis on how we pronounce one shares things in common. certain English words, to etiquette, And whether one performs at to the sacred place London holds in Old Broadcasting House at the the heart of India’s cultural elite. BBC or the Experimental Theatre The influences for a stand-up show at the NCPA, in the darkness, around the Empire were many and with laughter in unison, we are often gathered from work fostered all the same. by the NCPA. Whether they be in the early days, the movies of Merchant the idea that laughter can be something Anuvab Pal’s stand-up show, The Ivory Productions, or more recently, beyond just puerile abuse and political Empire, debuted at the NCPA on 15th the screenings from London’s National jokes. It is also a testament that August 2015. It travelled around the Theatre Live. In a world increasingly audiences can be global, cosmopolitan world and in December 2019, it was local and provincial, filled with in- and erudite, when they need to be. With filmed as part of the BBC World Service’s fighting, jingoism and xenophobia, the NCPA providing a home for quality The New Year International Comedy or to put it simply, the world people entertainment, bad Bollywood double- Show at Broadcasting House in London. like Mr. Arnab Goswami are building entendres can stay home for those The show has been seen by six million (who incidentally, does get mentioned few hours. people worldwide and is now a part of in the show), the NCPA’s support Taking this rather Wodehousean the permanent viewing collection at The of international artistes reaching world view, I went to England to Victoria and Albert Museum, London, Mumbai audiences is a breath of fresh perform the same show and found a under the exhibit Cruel Britannia. He air. And indeed, seeing my audience very different response. Their view of would like to thank the NCPA, where it laugh at Indian idiosyncrasies placed the Empire is not idiosyncratic nostalgia all began. This article was first published against British ones, or American ones, as ours often is, but shame. Outright in the April 2020 digital issue (Volume 9, or French ones, is a nice thumbs up to shame. So to hear a comedian talk about Issue 9) of ON Stage. oml

40 • March 2021 NCPA

Reality Check, INDIAN MUSIC 9th, Little Theatre CITI-NCPA Promising Artistes Series Ninad Daithankar (santoor) Programme(Programmes are subject to change. Please check the website and refer to our emails for updated Guideinformation.) March 2021 Om Bongane (khayal) Experimental Theatre THEATRE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC DANCE MULTI ARTS & PRESENTATIONS Friday, 12th – 6.30 pm

INDIAN MUSIC WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC FILMS / SCREENINGS PHOTOGRAPHY & EXHIBITION Jeeya Sethi, 7th, Experimental Theatre Prominent among the various initiatives undertaken by Citi and the NCPA to An NCPA Off-Stage Presentation support practitioners of Indian music DANCE Anand-Jayalakshmi, 5th, An NCPA Presentation In collaboration with Comedy Ladder is Scholarships to Young Musicians. Experimental Theatre This series has been conceptualised Prachi Save Saathi, 5th, “One Night Only” – A Diva Special, FemaPalooza is a unique show for My Home India to showcase the beneficiaries of these Experimental Theatre featuring Keshia B, will showcase the women by women and only women Polish/English Film initiatives. The programmes are in the life, story and personalities of some are allowed; a stand-up comedy show Subtitled in English (45 mins) field of Hindustani vocal dhrupad( of the great divas like Etta James, with an all-funny line-up. Women feel and khayal) and instrumental music Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Gloria most comfortable around other women This film is about the fragile but (melody and percussion instruments). Estefan and Adele, to name a few. and find it easier to let their hair down stubborn and strong-willed Kira Keshia B will dish out some classic when men are not around. So, Comedy Banasinska’s phenomenal struggle to Ninad Daithankar, old-school diva specials like ‘I’d Ladder brings to you an amazing line-up make a home for Polish war refugees 12th, Experimental Theatre Rather Go Blind’ by Etta James, ‘Say of some of the best women in comedy. in India. The film is a rare collection of a Little Prayer’ by Aretha Franklin, Bring your grandmothers, mothers, previously unseen archives combined ‘Hot Stuff’ by Donna Summer, while sisters, MILs, daughters and best friends with first-hand testimonies from giving you a glimpse of new age neo for this unique show. A ladies night out the survivors—a discovery of the of the box and create artwork never soul artistes like Erykah Badu and like never before, these comics will leave extraordinary in the ordinary. Personal thought of before. This evening is the Ledisi. Ending the night on a high you in splits. An evening of laughter and history is seldom the same as projected first of many such presentations that will be hit singles of Alicia Keys, H.E.R. fun, you don’t want to miss this one. A history. While making a home for features choreographies that have and Jennifer Hudson. Women’s Day Special! refugees in India, the country became Ninad Daithankar is the Citi-NCPA been born during the lockdown. Some her home. Both in films and history Scholarship winner, 2020-21. An up-and- of these choreographies have been Host: Jeeya Sethi books, a lot is spoken and known coming santoor player from Pune, he Pooja Pant, 5th, presented online in a limited space to Comics: Anu Menon, Aishwarya about World War II, but little is known has been learning the instrument from Experimental Theatre suit the mobile camera screen and will Mohanraj, Ramya Ramapriya, Shreeja about what happened to the Poles his father Dhananjay Daithankar (senior now be remodelled to be featured on Chaturvedi & Sonali Thakker who survived Soviet labour camps disciple of Shivkumar Sharma) for 12 years. a live performance stage. There will be and found their way into India. These He is equally proficient in Hindustani presentations by group members who For Adults only. Poles have different stories to tell but classical and light classical music and have redesigned a choreography that have one common link—Banasinska. has performed in various prestigious was originally created by merging videos Tickets: The wife of Eugene Banasinski, the music festivals held in India and abroad. shot in their individual spaces. The NCPA R360/- (Members) first Polish Consul General of Poland A recipient of Ajay Bakshi Smruti Puraskar brings them all together, not online but R400/- (Public) in Bombay, was instrumental in seeing and Indumati Kale Yuva Vadyavadak physically for the first time after a long Box Office: 9th February for that thousands and thousands of Poles Puraskar, he is pursuing his master’s in gap. The first edition will have a solo Members & 12th February for Public found safe passage and homes in India. Music from Bharati Vidyapeeth’s School performance by Bharatanatyam artiste of Performing Arts, Pune. Catalyst Prachi Save Saathi, a duet by Anand – Directed by Anjali Bhushan An evening celebrating choreographies Jayalakshmi and a group presentation FILM Written by Anjali Bhushan & Om Bongane, 12th, Experimental Theatre born during lockdown by Pooja Pant Dance Company. Małgorzata Czausow Bharatanatyam by Prachi Save Saathi Keshia B, 6th, Experimental Theatre Reality Check Research Consultant: Małgorzata (solo), Anand Satchidanandan and Tickets: Documentary Film Screening Czausow Jayalakshmi (duet) & Kathak by Pooja R180/- (Members) Tickets: Little Theatre Produced by Anjali Bhushan, Pant Dance Company R200/- (Public) R450/- (Members) Tuesday, 9th – 7.00 pm Krzysztof Sołek & Małgorzata (Approx. 60 mins) Box Office: 9th February for R500/- (Public) Czausow Experimental Theatre Members & 12th February for Public Box Office: 9th February for Members & An NCPA Presentation in Executive Producer: Pravesh Sippy Friday, 5th – 6.30 pm 12th February for Public collaboration with Cinema Collective Edited by Katarzyna Leśniak INTERNATIONAL MUSIC Music by Sandesh Shandilya An NCPA Presentation THEATRE This year, the NCPA revives the Reality One Night Only – A Diva Check film series, which was started The film screening will be followed by The national lockdown may have taken Special FemaPalooza in 2014, to promote and encourage a discussion. away a lot of privileges from us but it has Featuring Keshia B Stand-up Comedy documentary filmmakers in India, whose Om Bongane is the Citi-NCPA also been a good teacher, a catalyst that (Approx. 105 mins) English & Hindi (90 mins) work reflects life and culture in the Admission on a first-come-first- Scholarship winner, 2017-18. He started has sowed the seeds of new knowledge Experimental Theatre Experimental Theatre country today in a provocative blend of served basis. NCPA Members will learning vocal music at the age of and forced artistes to start thinking out Saturday, 6th – 7.00 pm Sunday, 7th - 7.00 pm creativity and integrity. get preferential seating till 6.50 pm. seven while also learning to play the

42 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 43 harmonium and tabla. He initially took dedicated entirely to Elgar that realism and outright absurdist humour, impact calculations turn out to be A Fistful of Rupees, 14th, Agrippina, 16th, taleem in music from his father Kachru delves into works spanning the Experimentalthe play is bothTheatre an ode to Mumbai’s Godrej Dance Theatre off by a few minutes, he still has time Bongane and later, learned in the composer’s life. to have a last conversation with her gurukul style from Nath Neralkar and before the world ends. continues to train under him. Currently, Elgar: he is taking Rampur-Saheswan gharana Romance, Op. 1 9+1=1, 17th, Directed by Arati Kadav Little Theatre taleem from Rashid Khan. He is a Serenade (arr. Szigeti) recipient of Vishnu Digambar Paluskar Salut d’Amour Storm in a Teacup Award by Sharda Sangeet Vidyalaya Intermezzo 9+1=1 English Film (9 mins) and Pt. Vasantrao Deshpande Young Introduction and allegro Hindi/English Film Artist Award by SCZCC among other Serenade for strings The film is about a newly married couple’s awards. Bongane has also performed Sospiri, Op. 70 9+1=1 is the first-ever film made on the drama-filled argument which starts with at various music festivals. ‘Nimrod’ from Enigma Variations subject of carbon monoxide poisoning. Adieu overpowering personality, as well as Carbon monoxide, also known as a silent Admission for Members on a first-come- a heartfelt journey of a young person killer, is one of the deadliest combinations first-served basis. NCPA Members will Tickets: navigating opportunity and despair of gases that can kill people within minutes get preferential seating till 6.20 pm. R900, 675 & 450/- (Members) with equal earnestness. At some point, without showing any physical symptoms. R1,000, 750 & 500/- (Public) Raghav must decide whether he wants When we talk about air pollution, this gas WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC (Plus GST) to continue to spectate and observe, or is the least talked about when, in fact, Storm in a Teacup, 17th, Box Office: 9th February for finally jump in as well. it causes the highest number of deaths Little Theatre SOI Chamber Orchestra Members & 12th February for Public as compared to other gases. As per data Marat Bisengaliev, conductor & Runner-up, Sultan Padamsee from various sources, most of the deaths an innocuous request of making tea. The violin THEATRE Playwriting Awards 2018 happen when household fumes are tea-making process acts as a window Entirely Elgar Showcased at the Tata LitLive! generated either while cooking or in to the wife’s changing forms of anger (70 mins) A Fistful of Rupees Mumbai Literature Festival 2018 Tickets: an attempt to warm houses in winters. which morphs from the silent treatment, Tata Theatre English/Hindi Play (80 mins) R450/- (Members) 9+1=1 is the story of a man who keeps passive aggression, simmering anger to Saturday, 13th – 5.00 pm Experimental Theatre Written and Directed by Shiv Tandan R500/- (Public) nine paying guests in his house to earn the eventual fit of fury. Sunday, 14th – 7.00 pm Cast: Vidyuth Gargi, Niharika Lyra Box Office: 25th February for extra income. One day, he leaves town An NCPA Presentation Dutt, Mallika Shah & Vaibhav Kapatia Members & 28th February for Public and when he comes back, he finds that all Written & Directed by Shreyas An NCPA Presentation the paying guests have died from inhaling Govindarajan SOI Music Director Marat Bisengaliev Tickets: poisonous carbon monoxide. The gas is a noted interpreter of the works Raghav shows up in Mumbai without R450/- (Members) FILM emanated from a makeshift coal tandoor The film screenings will be followed by of Sir Edward Elgar. His album Elgar: much of a plan and throws himself R500/- (Public) they improvised to party in their landlord’s a discussion. Re-discovered works for violin, Vol. 1 headlong into the ruckus. After living Box Office: 9th February for Short Film Corner absence oblivious of the repercussions was nominated for a Gramophone in quiet and orderly Singapore for Members & 12th February for Public Short Film Screenings they could face. Admission on a first-come-first- Award and the second volume many years, Mumbai comes as quite Little Theatre served basis. NCPA Members will was named by Classic FM as one a shock. Everything feels heightened, SCREENING Wednesday, 17th – 7.00 pm Written & Directed by Rahul Yadav get preferential seating till 6.50 pm. of the “Top 5 Elgar recordings”. In louder, brighter, impossible to ignore. 2013, Bisengaliev received the first He fights the absurd loneliness of the Agrippina An NCPA Presentation in 55km/sec Elgar Proliferation Award from the crowded city with lots of laughter, by George Frideric Handel collaboration with White Wall Hindi/English Film with English SCREENING American Elgar Foundation. In this and some bravery. A Fistful of Rupees Opera Screening (135 mins) Screenings Subtitles (20 mins) concert, Bisengaliev will lead the SOI considers the idea of what it means Sung in Italian with English Subtitles The Cherry Orchard Chamber Orchestra as conductor to truly ‘arrive’ in this expansive and Godrej Dance Theatre There are so many wonderful Seconds before a meteor hits Earth, Theatre Screening and violin soloist in a programme yet tiny world, flitting between grim Tuesday, 16th – 6.00 pm short films being made in India, an awkward man confesses his love (Approx. 133 mins) with auteurs at work in their own to his college crush on a farewell call Godrej Dance Theatre An NCPA – The Metropolitan Opera regions, and bold, new voices with his school friends. But when the Thursday, 18th - 6.00 pm (New York) Presentation who are experimenting with form and technique. Short Film Corner A classic love feud between rulers hopes to connect movie lovers and rulers-to-be. The story is set in with these films and also open up ancient Rome, and its line-up includes dialogue with filmmakers, who the emperor Claudius, along with the in turn, get a chance to connect whole raft of plotters and schemers with their audiences. White Wall who surrounded him. His fourth wife Screenings (WWS) was founded in Agrippina plots his death, so that her 2017 as a community to facilitate son Nero from a previous marriage a conversation between short can secure the throne. Mezzo-soprano filmmakers and film connoisseurs. Joyce DiDonato headlines Handel’s WWS has successfully showcased brilliant and tuneful comedy, in a new more than 300 short films and also staging by Sir David McVicar that The continues to conduct workshops, SOI Chamber Orchestra, New York Times hails as “bold, snicker- masterclasses and conversations 55km/sec, 17th, 13th, Tata Theatre Little Theatre out-loud funny, magnetic.” around filmmaking and films.

44 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 45 The Cherry Orchard. 18th, by playing modern music as well as A Silly Point Production Godrej Dance Theatre timeless classics with a vintage/jazz vibe to them. By mixing modern pop Tickets: music with a ’50s to ’80s feel, and the R1,500, 1,125, 750, 600, 375 & 225/- classics with a fresh beat, they aim to (Members) create a space where people of all age R2,000, 1,500, 1,000, 800, 500 & groups can resonate with the music. 300/- (Public)

(Inclusive of GST) Uncle Vanya, 25th, Tickets: Box Office: 25th February for Godrej Dance Theatre R450/- (Members) Members & 28th February for Public R500/- (Public) As the conflicted family are forced to Box Office: 9th February for THEATRE confront their despair, loneliness and Members & 12th February for Public each other, can the beauty of life help World Theatre Day them find new hope? Sonia Friedman Rajee Narayan, 19th, Experimental Theatre THEATRE Events Productions’ stunning five-star play Spotlight on Stage Uncle Vanya, a new adaptation of the legendary guru, Rajee Narayan, a Sherlock Homi, 21st, Tata Theatre Anton Chekhov masterpiece by Conor Tata Theatre woman vaggayekara of the 21st century Friday, 26th, Saturday, 27th and McPherson directed by Ian Rickson, who was known for her compositions Sunday, 28th was abruptly halted as the world went and choreographies in rare ragams, into lockdown. Currently nominated for conventionally unexplored talams, The year 2020 has been like no other, four Olivier Awards, Uncle Vanya—full beautifully woven traditional adavus impacting the arts fraternity enormously. of tumultuous frustration and hidden An NCPA - Ireland Consulate, DANCE and subtle yet poetic sancharis. The ‘Spotlight on Stage’ is an initiative that passions, but brimming with hope and Mumbai, Presentation students of Guru G. V. Ramani Natya Kala believes in the power of community optimism for the future—is a must-see Parvati Kumar, 19th, Foundation will present excerpts from collaboration, where BookMyShow is event for our times. Bringing together one of the world’s Experimental Theatre three of her rare compositions from one working with producers, performers great classic plays with one of Ireland’s of the last recordings done by her. and venues to come together and Tickets: greatest writers, Druid presents Tom celebrate live performing arts. The R360/- (Members) Murphy’s version of Chekhov’s Tickets: initiative will host English and Hindi R400/- (Public) masterpiece, The Cherry Orchard. R180/- (Members) Sherlock Homi theatre, Western classical music, Indian Box Office: 9th February for Directed by Garry Hynes, with the R200/- (Public) Gujarati/English Play music, international music, stand-up Members & 12th February for Public acclaimed creative team behind Box Office: 9th February for (100 mins) and dance and will find its home in DruidShakespeare, this production Members & 12th February for Public Tata Theatre performing arts venues across the city WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC will feature a large company of Sunday, 21st – 11.30 am, 4.30 pm & over two weekends this month. The actors, starring Derbhle Crotty and INTERNATIONAL MUSIC 7.30 pm NCPA will participate in this exciting SOI Chamber Orchestra other leading members of the Druid celebration of theatre with a collection Marat Bisengaliev, conductor & Ensemble. Druid’s production of The Time Machine An NCPA Presentation for the of varied performances by the vibrant violin Cherry Orchard, a play about land, (Approx. 105 mins) Adi Marzban Endowment Fund performing arts community of Mumbai. (70 mins) legacy and the struggle between Experimental Theatre (4:30 pm show) For details on performances and venues, Tata Theatre tradition and change, will be the first Remembering Parvati Saturday, 20th – 7.00 pm please visit www.ncpamumbai.com Wednesday, 31st – 7.00 pm major production of Murphy’s work Kumar & Rajee Narayan Parsis are few in number—this since his death in 2018. An evening dedicated to two An NCPA Presentation statement is a myth. Parsis are SCREENING An NCPA Presentation luminaries in the field of arts everywhere. You just don’t realise it. Cast: Derbhle Crotty, Ian-Lloyd (Approx. 90 mins) Inspired by the work of Postmodern One such Parsi is none other than the Uncle Vanya SOI Music Director Marat Bisengaliev Anderson, Siobhán Cullen, Experimental Theatre Jukebox, Time Machine sets the stage world’s most infamous detective— Theatre Screening will lead the SOI Chamber Orchestra Megan Cusack, Peter Daly, Rachel Friday, 19th – 6.30 pm Sherlock Homi. To the world, he is (Approx. 150 mins) in a programme of beloved classics Feeney, Garrett Lombard, Aaron suave and dashing, but he is actually Godrej Dance Theatre including Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Monaghan, Rory Nolan, Helen An NCPA Presentation by Sandhya a typical happy-go-lucky Parsi man, Thursday, 25th – 6.00 pm major, hailed as “one of the miracles Norton, John Olohan & Marty Rea Purecha along with Sarfojiraje who migrated from Bharucha Baug of 19th-century music” in a special Bhosale Center’s Bharata College in Bombay and now lives in London’s An NCPA-More2Screen Presentation arrangement for string orchestra. Tickets: of Fine Arts and Culture & Gayatri 221B Baker Street with his partner in R360/- (Members) Subramanian along with Guru G.V. crime Dr. Jamshed Wadia. He uses his Sonya (Aimee Lou Wood) and her Programme including: R400/- (Public) Ramani Natya Kala Foundation Parsi sense (the equivalent of a sixth Uncle Vanya (Toby Jones) while Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 Box Office: 9th February for sense, just crazier), to solve crimes in away their time on an isolated estate, Rossini: Sonata No. 3 for strings Members & 12th February for Public The evening presents Parvati Kumar’s a way only a Parsi can—with a cup visited occasionally only by the local Mendelssohn: Octet unique research on Abhinayadarpanam of tea, two eggs every morning and doctor Astrov (Richard Armitage). THEATRE and Marathi Nirupanas along with using a lot of swear words...or as we However, when Sonya’s father, Professor Tickets: the traditional compositions and Parsis call it...punctuation. Serebryakov (Roger Allam), suddenly R900, 675 & 450/- (Members) World Theatre Day choreography in Tanjavur Bani by returns with his restless, alluring, R1,000, 750 & 500/- (Public) Events students of Bharata College of Fine Written & Directed by Meherzad Patel new wife Yelena (Rosalind Eleazar), (Plus GST) (19th, 20th & 21st March) Arts and Culture. The evening will Time Machine, 20th, Cast: Danesh Irani, Danesh polite facades crumble and long Box Office: 25th February for Experimental Theatre SEAMUS RYAN (UNCLESEAMUS VANYA) RYAN

(26th, 27th & 28th March) also pay homage to the work of the ORCHARD) (THE CHERRY JACK ROBBIE Khambata, Azmin Mistry & others repressed feelings start to emerge. Members & 28th February for Public

46 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 47 in Washington D.C. and Museum Rietberg in she performs group shows with students and DANCE Zurich. She was Head of Programming (Dance) nurtures these young talents to carry the legacy at the NCPA till 2013. of Kelucharan Mohapatra gharana forward. NCPA Mudra Dance Festival 2021 Shayomita Dasgupta, an English graduate Subikash Mukherjee, one of the more This year, we pay tribute to iconic dance from Gauhati University, presently based in the established male Odissi dancers of our country choreographies and musical compositions at vibrant cultural milieu of Kolkata, started her and a student of Ratikant Mohapatra, initially the Mudra Dance Festival. dance journey under the tutelage of Garima started learning Odissi under Giridhari Nayak in Hazarika, an Odissi exponent from Assam. Kolkata at a very tender age. After completing Kuchipudi by Amrita Lahiri It was in 1995 that she started taking direct Sangeet Visharad from Pracheen Kala Kendra, What’sAPRIL & MAY 2021Next presenting choreographies Odissi lessons from the legendary Kelucharan Chandigarh, he was selected as a student (Programmes are subject to change. Please check the website and refer to our emails for updated information.) of Vempati Chinna Satyam, Mohapatra and subsequently received the at the Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Odissi Odissi by Shayomita National Scholarship under the doyen. She feels Research Centre in Bhubaneswar, where he was Dasgupta and Subikash blessed to have shared the stage with her guru trained under Kumkum Mohanty. He has been Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci, 8th April, INDIAN MUSIC Ronu Majumdar, 9th Mukherjee presenting on numerous occasions, the most notable being fortunate enough to receive the guidance of Godrej Dance Theatre April, Experimental enacting the role of Sita in the dance drama Kelucharan Mohapatra and has even had Theatre choreographies of Saz-e-Bahar Kelucharan Mohapatra and Dashanan. Gradually, she became associated the opportunity to share the stage with him. Festival of Indian Instrumental Music Kathak by Shama Bhate and with Ratikant and Sujata Mohapatra’s Srjan Through his dedication and commitment, Experimental Theatre Nadroop family and is currently under the tutelage of the he has won accolades and awards including Friday, 9th & Saturday, 10th April - 6.30 pm Experimental Theatre former. She is a recipient of numerous awards the West Bengal State Music Academy Award, Sunday, 11th April – 5.00 pm and has conducted several workshops on Odissi. Victoria Memorial Society Award, Yuva Mission An NCPA Presentation She has performed various shows in India and Award 2009 and many more. He even bagged Amrita Lahiri, 11th abroad and is the Director of Pragyadyuti, where the first position in Sanjukta Panigrahi Award April, Experimental The tenth edition of this two-day festival Theatre 2002. His name was added in the Guinness Book will showcase four internationally renowned 10th April Shayomita of World Record for participating in the Largest SCREENING instrumentalists, wielding instruments Dilshad Khan (sarangi) Dasgupta, 11th Odissi Dance. He is also an empanelled artiste April, Experimental of different categories—string-pluckedMohi Baha’ud-din Dagar (rudraveena) Theatre of ICCR and a graded artiste of Doordarshan Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (rudraveena), string-bowed (sarangi), wind- (Approx. 105 mins) Kendra. Mukherjee runs the dance institution by Pietro Mascagni/Ruggero Leoncavallo blown (bansuri) and drums-percussion (tabla). Sankalpa Nrityayan, where he trains students Opera Screening (172 mins) On each day at 6.00 pm, Dr. Suvarnalata Dilshad Khan was mentored by his uncle, in the Mohapatra gharana of Odissi dance. Sung in Italian with English Subtitles Rao will present a pre-event talk on the eminent sarangi maestro Sultan Khan, and Through his art, he not only reaches sublimity Godrej Dance Theatre specific instruments presented on the today, represents the younger generation of but also serves as an example and a role model Thursday, 8th April - 6.00 pm respective days. instrumentalists. Amrita Lahiri is widely recognised as one of for the future generations. the foremost performers of Kuchipudi today. An NCPA - The Metropolitan Opera (New 9th April Having trained with maestros like his father Critics describe her as ‘gifted with a radiant Tickets: York) Presentation Akram Khan (tabla) Zia Mohiuddin and uncle, Zia Fariddudin stage presence’, and her dance performances R450 & 270/- (Members) Ronu Majumdar (bansuri) Dagar, Baha’ud-din Dagar is one of the and choreographies have been acclaimed for R500 & 300/- (Public) Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads this (Approx. 120 mins) very few exponents of the rudraveena, a rare their elegance and dynamism, combined with a Box Office: 26th March for Members & immortal double-bill of one-act operas that instrument today. refined approach. Performances in 2016 include 29th March for Public teem with love, jealousy, despair and murder. Akram Khan, 9th those at Music Academy in Chennai, India April, Experimental In Cavalleria Rusticana, Santuzza is pregnant Theatre Daily Tickets: International Centre in New Delhi and at the Subikash Mukherjee, 11th and abandoned by the handsome and popular R135/- (Members) Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa. She has toured as April, Experimental Theatre Turiddu. But their illicit dalliance is discovered R150/- (Public) a soloist in India, USA, Switzerland, South Korea, by Santuzza’s husband, Alfio, who challenges Box Office: 9th March for Members & 12th Africa and Southeast Asia, presenting Kuchipudi Turiddu to a duel, and kills him. In Pagliacci, March for Public. from its traditional origins to its contemporary Canio, the iconic clown, must entertain the forms. Kuchipudi has a lightness and dramatic audience while his heart is breaking. His wife, quality that sets it apart from other Indian classical Nedda, plans to flee with her young lover, Silvio, dance forms. Lahiri combines its grace and light- after the performance. But when the action on footedness with a focus on depth of emotion stage too closely mirrors real life, Canio erupts and attention to aesthetics of movement, music, and murders them both. and content. She began dancing at age seven in Washington D.C., studying under Anuradha Fabio Luisi (Conductor); Eva-Maria Nehru until she moved to New Delhi at age 15. Westbroek (Santuzza), Patricia Racette Dilshad Khan, 10th April, Experimental Theatre After her solo debut at the India International (Nedda), Marcelo Álvarez (Turiddu/Canio) & Akram Khan had the privilege of learning Centre in New Delhi in 1996, she continued to George Gagnidze (Alfio/Tonio) tabla from stalwarts like Niazu Khan, and his perform Kuchipudi, and also started learning own illustrious father, Hashmat Ali Khan of the Bharatanatyam under Leela Samson. While Tickets: Ajrada gharana. in New Delhi, she also studied under Swapna R450/- (Members) Sundari and Seetha Nagajothy. In Chennai, she R500/- (Public) Ronu Majumdar was mentored by studied under Jaikishore Mosalikanti. She has Box Office: 9th March for Members & 12th eminent musicians such as Vijay Raghav Rao, Mohi Baha’ud-din Dagar, 10th April, worked for leading arts organisations such as March for Public Laxmanprasad Jaipurwale and Ravi Shankar. Experimental Theatre the British Council in New Delhi, Kennedy Center

48 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 49 Isheeta Chakrvarty, 16th April, War Horse, 15th April, Experimental Theatre The SOI Music Academy is the flagship Hansard, 22nd April, INTERNATIONAL MUSIC Godrej Dance Theatre educational initiative of the Symphony Orchestra Godrej Dance Theatre of India, providing advanced musical training to International Jazz Day talented young children. On 18th April, the SOI Tata Theatre Academy Orchestra, comprising students of the Friday, 30th April – 7.00 pm SOI Music Academy, will present a concert led by music director Marat Bisengaliev. Graduating An NCPA Presentation students of the Academy will also be featured as soloists in the programme, playing with the SOI Louiz Banks, 30th Chamber Orchestra. April, Tata Theatre

Admission passes will be available at the INTERNATIONAL MUSIC Box Office from 26th March for Members & 29th March for Public. Going Beyond! Experimental Theatre SCREENING Friday, 16th April – 7.00 pm Hansard An NCPA Presentation By Simon Woods Theatre Screening (100 mins) Isheeta Chakrvarty will present a set Godrej Dance Theatre of modern and contemporary jazz tunes, Thursday, 22nd April – 6.00 pm with a sound that is more global in nature, Night) and part of National Theatre Live’s has dominated Western culture for the past deriving from not just American and European An NCPA-National Theatre Live (London) 10th birthday season. 2000 years. It is perhaps the most significant influences but also African and Latin music. Presentation historical event of all time, as recounted by the The set of songs will include originals as well as Age: 15+ gospels and as such, has been depicted by the familiar standards. This set will be a showcase The official report of all parliamentary greatest artists in history. From the triumphant of her versatility as an artiste. Chakrvarty will be debates. See two-time Olivier Award Tickets: to the savage, the ethereal to the tactile, some SCREENING performing as a vocalist in a quintet with keys, winners, Lindsay Duncan (Birdman, About R360/- (Members) of Western civilisation’s greatest artworks focus bass, guitar and drums. Time) and Alex Jennings (The Lady in R400/- (Public) on this pivotal moment. This beautifully crafted In Mumbai, International Jazz Day has been War Horse the Van, The Queen), in this play by Simon Box Office: 9th March for Members & 12th film explores the story of Easter as depicted celebrated for the last seven years. This year, Theatre Screening Tickets: R750 & 500/- (Plus GST) Woods. On a summer morning in 1988, Tory March for Public in art, from the time of the early Christians to the NCPA and Louiz Banks will present the 8th (Approx. 180 mins) Box Office: 9th March for Members & politician Robin Hesketh has returned home the present day. Shot on location in Jerusalem, edition of the event, which will feature an array Godrej Dance Theatre 12th March for Public. to the idyllic Cotswold house he shares with SCREENING the United States and throughout Europe, the of some of the finest musicians and singers in Thursday, 15th April – 6.00 pm his wife of 30 years, Diana. But all is not as film explores the different ways artists have the country, presenting a repertoire ranging blissful as it seems. Diana has a stinking Easter in Art depicted the Easter story through the ages. from jazz standards to jazz fusion, spread over An NCPA-National Theatre Live (London) WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC hangover, a fox is destroying the garden, and Exhibition Screening a span of three hours. The NCPA, along with Presentation secrets are being dug up all over the place. (Approx. 85 mins) Directed by Phil Grabsky Banks, will celebrate this iconic day live at the SOI Music Academy As the day draws on, what starts as gentle Godrej Dance Theatre Tata Theatre in Mumbai. War Horse is based on the beloved novel (Approx. 90 mins) ribbing with the familiar rhythms of marital Thursday, 29th April – 6.30 pm Tickets: by Michael Morpurgo, adapted by Nick Tata Theatre scrapping, quickly turns to a blood sport. Do R360/- (Members) Tickets: R1000, 800, 500 & 300/- (Plus GST) Stafford in association with ​the award- Sunday, 18th April – 5.00 pm not miss this witty and devastating portrait An NCPA- Seventh Art Productions (UK) R400/- (Public) Box Office: 26th March for Members & winning Handspring Puppet Company. of the governing class, directed by Simon Presentation Box Office: 9th March for Members & 29th March for Public At the outbreak of World War I, Albert’s An NCPA Presentation Godwin (NT Live: Antony & Cleopatra, Twelfth The story of Christ’s death and resurrection 12th March for Public beloved horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry INTERNATIONAL MUSIC and shipped to France. Though still not SOI Music Academy, Easter in Art, 29th April, Godrej Dance Theatre old enough to enlist, he embarks on a 18th April, Tata Theatre Jazz Goes Retro treacherous mission to find him and bring Featuring Rajeev Raja & Many More him home. Now seen by more than eight Tata Theatre million people around the world, this Saturday, 15th May – 7.00 pm powerfully moving and imaginative drama is a show of phenomenal inventiveness. At An NCPA Presentation its heart are astonishing life-size puppets by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet The timeless songs of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Company, that bring breathing, galloping, Elton John, Sting, The Rolling Stones, Led ) charging horses to thrilling life on stage. Zeppelin, The Doors, Eric Clapton and many more, performed by a jazz big band that includes piano, h a n sa rd Tickets: guitar, bass, drums and a full-blown horn section. ( R360/- (Members) ashmore R400/- (Public) Tickets: R1000, 800, 500 & 300/- (Plus GST) Box Office: 9th March for Members & 12th Box Office: 9th April for Members & 12th

March for Public April for Public. catherine

50 • March 2021 NCPA NCPA March 2021 • 51 at a glance March 2021

EventsTHEATRE INTERNATIONAL MUSIC DANCE FILMS / SCREENINGS INDIAN MUSIC WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC MULTI ARTS & PRESENTATIONS PHOTOGRAPHY & EXHIBITION

Day Date Time Event Venue

Catalyst An evening celebrating choreographies born during Fri 5th 6.30 pm lockdown: Bharatanatyam by Prachi Save Saathi (solo), Anand Satchidanandan and Jayalakshmi (duet) & Kathak by Pooja Pant Dance Company One Night Only – A Diva Special Sat 6th 7.00 pm Featuring Keshia B

FemaPalooza Sun 7th 7.00 pm Stand-up Comedy in English & Hindi

Reality Check Tue 9th 7.00 pm Documentary Film Screening CITI-NCPA Promising Artistes Series: Fri 12th 6.30 pm Ninad Daithankar (santoor) Om Bongane (khayal) SOI Chamber Orchestra Sat 13th 5.00 pm Marat Bisengaliev, conductor & violin Entirely Elgar

A Fistful of Rupees Sun 14th 7.00 pm English/Hindi Play Agrippina by George Frideric Handel Tue 16th 6.00 pm Opera Screening Sung in Italian with English Subtitles Short Film Corner Wed 17th 7.00 pm Short Film Screenings The Cherry Orchard Thu 18th 6.00 pm Theatre Screening World Theatre Day Events (19th, 20th & 21st March) (26th, 27th & 28th March) Remembering Parvati Kumar & Rajee Narayan Fri 19th 6.30 pm An evening dedicated to two luminaries in the field of arts Time Machine Sat 20th 7.00 pm An international music event 11.30 am, Sun 21st 4.30 pm & Sherlock Homi 7.30 pm Gujarati / English Play Fri 26th Sat 27th Spotlight on Stage Sun 28th Uncle Vanya Thu 25th 6.00 pm Theatre Screening

SOI Chamber Orchestra Wed 31st 7.00 pm Marat Bisengaliev, conductor & violin

52 • March 2021 NCPA