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Watch: ‘Outsider’, a play in Hindi

Today, ‘Outsider’ plays as part of NCPA’s Hindi play festival, at 7 pm. The festival concludes tomorrow. Don’t miss it.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Vacation time is ideal for movies and plays. If you’re free today, you might want to check out the Hindi play Outsider, as part of the NCPA’s Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav.

Based on L’Etranger by Albert Camus, the play is about M, a free man who gets involved in a violent murder. As his story unfolds, we see the journey of a man as he struggles against an indifferent world. A stranger on the beach picks up a stranded shell and hears in it the secrets of the ocean. He is returning home after 20 years, remembering along the way all the secrets he uncovered that were hidden away in those grains of sand. Two stories and two lives that flow in and out of each other to represent that one life is good as another, is the basis of this play.

Written and directed by Gouri Dutt, the play stars Kumud Mishra, Ujjawal Chopra, Narottam Bain, Dilshaad Edibum Khurana, Jaihind Kumar and Ghanshyam Lalsa.

In 2011, the NCPA created and hosted its first-ever Hindi theatre festival NCPA Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav. The festival, held in May every year, showcases original Hindi plays that have strong literary roots. Ananda means happiness or pleasure.

Further, Ananda Hindi Natya Utsav presents a small selection of Mumbai’s Hindi theatre at its most joyous and original best. Mumbai groups such as IPTA, Ank, Ekjute and Yatri have performed, along with new and budding companies, in previous editions.

For more information and booking, look up the NCPA Mumbai page.

(Picture courtesy ncpamumbai.com)

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Film screening: Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha

Gandhi Film Foundation will screen the film, shot in 1930, till May 31. School students and historians are particularly invited.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

We’ve all read about Mahatma Gandhi’s famous Salt Satyagraha and the Dandi March that led to the breaking of the British monopoly over the first use of salt in India. Now, you’ve got the chance to see the actual journey.

Salt The Gandhi Film Foundation is screening a 15-minute film that shows rare footage from Gandhi’s historic 241 miles-long walk from Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi. The film is being screened several times a day from April 22 and will be shown till May 31, 2014. The Foundation believes that students of schools, colleges and activity centres, as also historians, would like to see the footage that was recorded in 1930.

Says Nitin Potdar, Chairman of the Gandhi Film Foundation, “The audio-visual medium the best medium to keep students interested in history and since we have the footage of this great historic movement which occurred almost 85 years ago, we thought it would be good for students to see the manner in which the Salt Satyagraha was lead by Gandhiji rather than reading the same in text books.”

Subhash Jaykar, Director of Gandhi Film Foundation adds, “Gandhiji started a 241-mile-long walk from the Sabarmati Ashram to Dandi, a village on the sea-coast, along with his chosen band of seventy-eight Ashramites. After 24 days, on April 5, 1930, Sarojini Naidu received Gandhiji and his followers on the outskirts of the village. On April 6, after the dip into the sea, walking at a slow pace in solemnity, Gandhi picked up a lump of natural salt on the seashore and the nefarious monopoly was broken.  Nowhere had a law been more peacefully and yet more defiantly disobeyed. We have captured this very journey in the film.”

Head to Gandhi Films Exhibition Centre, at Mani Bhavan, Annex Building, at Laburnum Road, Mumbai 400007. Call Subhash Jaykar or Pratibha on 022 2380 4681 or write to info@gandhifilms.org for details.

(Pictures courtesy www.sumit4all.com, www.starsai.com)

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Of mothers, through dance

Dr Anita Ratnam performs ‘Circles of Love’ at the NCPA tomorrow, where she presents the mother in all her forms.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A mother is a fascinating creature – she is everything and everywoman. Noted danseuse Dr Anita Ratnam will present the ‘mother’ in all her terrific and terrifying forms tomorrow at the NCPA, through her new work, Circles of Love.

Anita RatnamPart of the Mudra Dance Festival 2014, Circles of Love focusses on mothers usnig ancient and contemporary poetry, spoken word interludes and familiar references from cultural memory to trace the outlines of what it means to be a mother who is eternally fragile and part of a cycle. Anita will portray the woman as mother, giver of life, psychic gardener, caretaker of lives and terrifying protector.

The performance will weave story, diary, movement and life into a living tapestry. As daughter, wife, mother and grandmother, the various shades of maternal joy and grief will be shared in an interdisciplinary performance informed by myth, memory and humour. Known for her attention to visual design and new movement aesthetic, Anita Ratnam will illuminate her ideas with familiar maternal images from Indian myths. Yasodha and Krishna, Devi with Ganesh and Murugan and a specially composed spoken word poem about her grandmother, mother and daughter, will be presented during the performance.

Guest artiste Malavika Sangghvi, well known writer, columnist and poet, will  complement the kinetic template with her words and personal imagination to the evening. Poetry and prose that weave ruminations about motherhood and womanisms, Malavika will add texture and tone to the dance and spoken word production. Both Anita and Malavika will give a talk right after the show.

Head to The Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, at 7 pm on Saturday, April 26, 2014.

 

(Picture courtesy Dr Anita Ratnam, arangham.com)

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Film screening: ‘Pitruroon’ at NCPA

The critically-acclaimed Marathi film marked actor Tanuja’s comeback to the silver screen after three decades; is directed by Nitish Bharadwaj.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

We all love a good mystery, and if that mystery is portrayed on celluloid by able actors, it’s a good combination to watch out for.

Today, the National Centre for Performing Arts’s (NCPA) Little Theatre presents critically-acclaimed Marathi film Pitruroon. The film stars renowned Marathi actor Sachin Khedekar in a double role, and marks the much-feted comeback to cinema of yesteryear actor Tanuja, after nearly three decades of her last film.

Pitruroon is based on a short story by Sudha Murthy. Written in Kannada, the story describes the life of Venkatesh Kulkarni (played by Khedekar) who has recently lost his father and is keen to fulfil his father’s last wishes. In doing so, he travels to Konkan and finds his lookalike and namesake, and also befriends the latter’s mother, Bhagirathi (played by Tanuja). As he hears about the other Venkatesh and his life, he begins to wonder if the two men have more in common than just looks and a name.

The film was acclaimed for its stellar performances by its lead actors, and also marked the directorial debut of actor Nitish Bharadwaj, who we last remember as Lord Krishna in BR Chopra’s television adaptation of Mahabharat.

Admission for the screening is on a first-come-first-served basis. The film begins at 6.30 pm. 

(Picture courtesy www.fridayfirstshow.com)

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In pictures: St Peter’s Church

This stunning church based in Bandra houses the most astonishing stained glass windows made in China. Here’s a closer look.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It is a prominent church in Mumbai, and like most churches, it is serene and quiet, inviting one to sit and pray a while before moving on to other mundane chores. But what takes the breath away at St Peter’s Church is its array of exquisite stained glass windows – which were crafted by a Spanish Jesuit priest Bro Antonio Navascues in China and brought by ship to Bombay in the 1930s, when the Church was rebuilt.

The earlier St Peter’s Church was built in 1851 as a simple place of prayer, but the structure began to show signs of wear and tear in the next century. The building was then demolished and a newer, bigger structure was built in its place, the foundation stone for which was laid in 1938.

We are grateful to parish priest Fr Errol Fernandes for allowing us an unrestricted access to the Church’s upper floor to photograph the stained glass windows.

See our pictures of St Peter’s Church below:

 

(Pictures courtesy Vrushali Lad) 

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In pictures: The Big Door

Vivek and Sunita Gupta’s decor and jewellery store at Pali Hill is an opulent tribute to Indian art and heritage.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

It’s a place that’s really hard to miss – located at the foot of Pali Hill, it stands behind a massive door that opens on knocking with an old-world brass knocker. Inside, its plush interiors take the breath away.

“We opened operations in September last year, and the response has been phenomenal,” says Amrita Kakka, Marketing Manager, The Big Door. “Most of our clientele comes from the nearby areas, and there is a fair smattering of expats doing the rounds of the store, too,” she says.

Presented by Vivek and Sunita Gupta, the store tries to make “art and grandeur a part of life.” Spread across 7,500 square feet over two floors and a big terrace space, the store houses Mughal, Nizam and Rajput inspired jewellery from Ravi Jewels, Jaipur, apart from precious and semi-precious jewellery, set in gold, silver and silver-gold plated metal, to Victorian, polkis and jadau pieces. The silver jewellery pieces are a huge hit with customers, says Amrita, since they are pocket-friendly and come in stunning designs.

Apart from these, the store also houses a huge collection of interior pieces. Interestingly, the highlight of the store is its washroom – a treat for the eyes, every item in there is on sale, too! 

See the pics below for a glimpse into The Big Door:

 

The store's best feature - its imposing main entrance door.      The store is becoming popular for its jewellery collection.The artifacts on display come from the store's warehouse in Udaipur

Most of the furniture pieces comprise silver plating over teakwood.This tall storing cabinet with shelves is actually a boat!No two pieces or sets of jewellery are alike at this store.Most of the furniture pieces comprise silver plating over teakwood.Living room pieces

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