The Fractured Image
A few signs are showing that women are coming into their own in Indian cinema…. not very radically so, but at least differently from men. Hopefully, in a larger context, film festivals and discussions like the one presented by Vimochana, have their own role to play in fostering a climate for this social transformation. View […]
Who’s a Nuclear Threat
Recent assurances by Secretary of State George Shultz to the Indian government regarding U.S. supplying spare parts to the Tarapur nuclear plant have generated misdirected reaction in this country. Stripped of their politicization the facts are these: By virtue of a 1963 Indo-U.S. agreement, the U.S. has a contractual obligation to supply the Tarapur plant […]
The Come-To-Tea Committees
Ea r l ie r this year, those who followed the activities of Rajiv Gandhi when he came to the city, noticed that while for most of the time he remained in the shadow of his mother, he made one deviation. He agreed to attend a tea-party hosted in his honour by an organisation—hitherto unheard […]
Kalyug – An Art Film For The Masses
LIKE every other Shyam Benegal film, Kalyug, slated for release next month, has already received more than its fair share of media attention. The focus, however, seems to have been on the fact that the director has cast commercially established stars such as Rekha, Shashi Kapoor and Raj Babbar in its major roles. The criticism […]
Music – Prabha Atre – Low-Key Virtuoso
Dr Prabha Atre, 45, vocalist, is a simple, unassuming person, not given to talking about herself. Watching her go about the modest Mahim flat, worrying about the carpenter not coming in, or the snacks being served right, it is difficult to imagine the same woman on stage at a concert—dignified, even a little aloof, and […]
Performance – A Musical Fair
IT was no different from other music festivals that Bombay is treated to during the peak music season, except that it was organised by Protima Bedi, and her Odissi Dance Centre students. And since Protima is a commercial password when it comes to all things cultural, the festival drew to its charmed circle, big names. […]
Zakir Hussain – The Tabla Maestro
About five years ago, Zakir Hussain, like all other talented tabla players, was known merely as an accompanist. Being the son of a world famous artiste, Ustad Alla Rakha, he had far more exposure than those with less exalted family connections, but he did not draw crowds for himself, as he does today. This star […]
A Perfect Pair – Vijaya And Farrokh Mehta
ARROKH MEHTA has just completed a full-house run of the play, A Streetcar Named Desire, where in his role as Mitch, he stole the show. His wife, Vijaya has just successfully launched a classical theatre production in Sanskrit, Abhigyan Shakuntal, which is amassing rave reviews from critics. Right now however both the Mehtas are going […]
Girish Karnad – Interview by Interview by AHMED RIZVI and NANDAN NILEKANI
After Basu Chatterjee’s ‘Swami’, Girish Karnad is much in demand as a ‘character actor’ in commercial Hindi cinema. But he first made his mark as a playwright (‘Tughlaq’, ‘Hayavadana’) and as one of the pioneers of the new cinema movement in Karnataka. Karnad maintains =his varied involvement in theatre and cinema— as a writer, an […]
Choas At The Kendra – DOORDARSHAN STRIKE
Bombay Doordarshan, that bureaucratic monolith, has now been in existence for just over eight years. Almost unremarked upon by the press so far for its gross ineptitude and mismanagement, it suddenly became the focus of attention early this month. The Doordarshan Programme Staff Union (Dpsu) announced their decision to begin a massive strike to express […]
