India Art Fair, sitar recital by Nishat Khan and Italian comedy to make your weekend

Some recommendations to enliven your weekend

Delhi

Art

The best of South Asian art: India Art Fair, South Asia’s leading art fair for modern and contemporary art from across the world, is back. 85 exhibiting galleries in a total of 90 booths will showcase a breadth of modern and contemporary art practices including painting, sculpture, new media, installation and performance art. Curated by Girish Shahane, this year’s edition includes a comprehensive series of artistic projects integrated in conjunction with the renowned Speakers’ Forum, bringing a diverse range of high profile industry speakers and thought leaders to the fair. Additionally, the fair plays host to a variety of art book stores, new restaurant spaces, curated walks, performance art and live music.
Where: NSIC Exhibition Grounds, Okhla, New Delhi
When: January 29- February 1

Shades of grey: India Habitat Centre presents “Greys To Tones”, a mixed medium and oil on canvas exhibition by artists Kaveri Ray and Tirthanker Biswas. The exhibition explores the idea of black and white. The artists, through their work showcase that many journeys in life start with black and white, before transforming into definitive patterns of different colours and infinite shapes.
Where: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
When: January 31- February 1, 11 am - 7 pm

Films

Keeping a secret: Italian Embassy Cultural Centre will screen “Loose Cannons”, a 2010 Italian film directed by Ferzan Ozpetek. Set amid a sprawling family Pasta empire in southern Italy, the film is a comedy about Tommaso and his eccentric Cantone family. As he returns from Rome, after completing his studies, he plans to reveal the news of his homosexuality to his family. But his brother plays spoiler, revealing the secret at an important family dinner. The film stars Riccardo Scamarcio, Nicole Grimaudo and Alessandro Preziosi.
Where: Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi
When: January 31, 4 pm
Info: Entry free

Photography

Back in time: The Alkazi Foundation for the Arts presents “Inner and Outer Lives”, an exhibition showcasing new photographs from the Homai Vyarawalla Archive. Homai Vyarawalla was India’s first female photojournalist. She is known for capturing the last days of the British Empire and the transformation of India into a modern nation-state from the late 1930s to 1970. A return to her recently digitised archive reveals how the task of representing important public events and figures may have taken her attention away from a world that she had pursued quite passionately; the intimate details of everyday life and in particular, the social milieu of women.
Where: Triveni Kala Sangam, Connaught Place, New Delhi
When: January 31, 7 pm

Theatre

Workplace politics: Alliance Francaise will showcase “Kaam Ka Bamboo Mat Le Shambhu”, a corporate comedy, that places a special focus on teamwork. The plot of the play revolves around Shambhu, who gets a job at a private company called "Bamboos of the Shambhu". After joining the organisation, he starts paying close attention to the politics at his workplace. A believer in efficiency and hard work, Shambhu rapidly works his way up. Slowly & steadily, he improves the office atmosphere and introduces his own slogan, “Kaam Ka Bamboo Mat Le Shambu”.
Where: Alliance Francaise de Delhi, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi
When: February 1, 2015, 2:30 pm
Info: Tickets priced at Rs. 100

Mumbai

Art

The shooting game: As part of a photography competition titled "Earth is a playground" last year, Foundation Alliance Française had invited amateurs and semi-professionals to showcase games in their many social and cultural contexts. The winning photos from all over the world – which include scenes of gambling, outdoor games, children’s games, sporting events – will be exhibited now.
Where: Café Zoe, Lower Parel, Mumbai
When: February 5-March 5

Films

Trouble from the East: Watch a screening of "Eastern Boys" by Robin Campillo. In the feature film, a young male hustler, Marek, is approached by an older man, Daniel, when he is hanging out with his gang at a Paris railway station. Daniel suggests that Marek visit him in his apartment the following day but he does not realise the trap he is about to fall into. Alliance Francaise will show the film in partnership with Institut Français, Unifrance Films and My French Film Festival.
Where: Alliance Francaise auditorium, New Marine Lines, Mumbai
When: February 2, 6.30 pm

Theatre

Of love and adultery: Directed by Raell Padamsee, "Unfaithfully Yours" is an English production starring Rohit Roy and Mona Singh. The play begins in the year 1990 when a chance meeting between two strangers, Akash and Preet, blossoms into a relationship that continues for 25 years. The audience will witness their story at five-year intervals, and follow how the characters grow, both as individuals and as a couple.
Where: Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: January 31, 7.30 pm
Info: Tickets priced at Rs.500-3,000

Music

Strains from a sitar: Nishat Khan, an eminent sitar player and heir to the Etawah-Imadadkhani gharana, was trained by his father Imrat Khan. He is known for technical mastery over the instrument and a contemporary approach to music, which has led to several cross-cultural collaborations with maestros from different music traditions. Khan will perform in a show presented by NCPA in partnership with Saroj Jhaveri Foundation.
Where: Experimental Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: February 1, 6.30 pm

Bengaluru

Books

Behind the graphic novel panels: Meet the co-creator of the cult graphic novel “V for Vendetta”, David Lloyd, in conversation with local graphic novelist George Mathen, Pratheek and Tina Thomas, formerly of Manta Ray, and Alok Sharma, comic book illustrator and filmmaker. Lloyd will be talking about how the graphic novel was conceptualised and the movement it incited supporting Internet freedom and freedom of speech. The discussions will be followed by after-parties, featuring BLENT and Fuzzy Logic, among others.
Where: PUMA Social Club, 100 Feet Road, Indira Nagar, Bengaluru
When: January 31, 2 pm (after party at 8 pm)
Info: Tickets priced at Rs 400 and Rs 600 (available on www.bookmyshow.com)

Theatre

On the road to Stalowa Wola: “Stalowa Wola” by German playwright Christopher Kloeble opens in the city this weekend. This will be the premiere of the English translation, by Kloeble, and has been directed by Vivek Madan. Stalowa Wola is a place in Poland. It is also the inexplicable destination of Karl, a recent widower living in East Germany. Karl has been unfaithful to his wife and just as he’s ready to come clean, she dies. Bereft and broken, guilty and gutless, he is driven by the ghost of his dead wife to goodness-knows-where, in search of goodness-knows-what. En route, he encounters a host of colourful characters.
Where: Jagriti Theatre, Varthur Road, Whitefield, Bengaluru
When: January 30 and 31, 8 pm; February 1, 3 pm and 6.30 pm

A play, and tea: “A Funny Thing Called Life” takes five everyday situations, which quickly turn into a twisted, funny joke, making you wonder how it reached that stage. This could be love at an airport lounge, the meaning of life home delivered, a strange auto ride and a conversation between two statues in a park. The performance will be followed by a chat over tea with the team at theatre company Tahatto, which marks their sixth anniversary.
Where: Atta Galatta, 134, 1st A Main Road, 5th Block, Koramangala, Bengaluru
When: January 31 and February 1, 7.30 pm

Films

The working class: In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences. Catch the screening of “Metropolis”, the documentary, directed by Fritz Lang.
Where: Cobalt, Church Street, Bengaluru
When: January 30, 7 pm