A dose of French cinema and world music to jazz up your weekend

Here is a guide to what you can do this weekend if you are in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata or Bangalore

Mumbai

Heritage

Walk the shop: As part of its first anniversary, the 7,500 sq ft space at The Big Door will be transformed into a heritage house to create an experience for visitors. The store showcases Indian collectibles and artistry. The walk will tell the stories behind every piece and narrate historic episodes from colonial India. Visitors will be exposed to products and their stories that date back to hundreds of years and draw inspiration from that era. Some of the items include archaic pichwai paintings, marble jaali panels that work on aerodynamics, consoles made from actual balconies of royal courts, hand craved and uncut marble artefacts, Kerala boats translated into shelves, bespoke trunks, heritage menswear and paintings made with real flower colours.

When: October 10-20
Where: The Big Door, Khar, Mumbai

Art

  Women and Water: Ganga is an exhibition of photographs by Antonio Di Canito, the recipient of Arte Laguna Prize: Technymon ARTresidency. The works were captured during his month-long residency in India, when he travelled the banks of the river in Varanasi, and later Delhi and Pondicherry. His project presents portraits of ordinary women immersed in water with just their heads visible over its gleaming blue-green surface. The artist attempts to allude to rebirth, vitality, energy and beauty through the motifs of water and woman. “Sometimes I like to include symbols in my work as seen in Renaissance paintings. The juxtaposition of woman and water, for me, represents birth, strength, power and love,” noted Di Canito.

When: October 7-14
Where: Sakshi Gallery, Colaba, Mumbai

Music

World music: As part of its One world, many musics presentation, NCPA will host Purbayan Chatterjee, an accomplished sitar player of international repute, and his band Stringstruck. The group plays genres ranging from Indian art music to Indian folk and Bollywood. The show will also feature Chatterjee’s new instrument DWO, which is on the lines of the traditional Indian sitar. Stringstruck includes Purbayan Chatterjee (DWO, sitar and vocals), Taufiq Qureshi and Fazal Qureshi among others. On day two, folk-fusion band Papon and the East India Company will perform its set of independent music. The band is headed by Angarag Mahanta, who is a singer, composer, producer and instrumentalist.

When: October 17-18, 7 pm
Where: Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai

Throw in the taal: Satish Krishnamurthy will conduct a taal workshop spread over two days focusing on the application of percussion in dance. Krishnamurthy is among the sought-after mridangam players for bharatanatyam in the city, he has accompanied Hema Malini for a jugalbandi in the past. He has been collaborating with noted dancers and conducting workshops in India, France and Vienna.

Where: NCPA, Nariman Point, Mumbai
When: October 18-19, 11 am
Info: Registration fee Rs.1000
 
Films

French short films: In partnership with Institut Français, Alliance Francaise de Bombay will screen two French films. Ce n'est pas un film de cow-boy, by Benjamin Parent is a 12-minute film where two groups of French teenagers from different backgrounds talk about a movie they watched on television the previous night: Brokeback Mountain. 7ème ciel by Guillaume Foirest tells the story of Sofiane, who lives in a high-rise block on the edges of Paris. While the violent young man tries to fit in with his gang of friends, he also finds that he is attracted to men. His conflicts mirror the confusion of many of today’s young people, who have lost their bearings and live withdrawn into themselves.

When: October 13, 6.30 pm
Where: Alliance Francaise auditorium, New Marine Lines, Mumbai

Delhi

 

Films

Spirituality in cinema: India Habitat Centre presents, The Buddha, a 2010 film that follows the story of the Buddha's life and discusses the history and teachings of Buddhism. Directed by: David Grubin  and narrated by Richard Gere, the film draws upon paintings and sculptures across two millennia as well as scenes in India today. The testimonies of contemporary Buddhists, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poet WS Merwin and the Dalai Lama provide insight into the ancient narrative. 

 

Where: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi

When: October 14, 7 pm

Art

History and art: India International Centre presents Jaisalmer Yellow, an exhibition of paintings by 25 leading artists from the eight SAARC countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The exhibition will showcase paintings conceptualised and created in the historic city of Jaisalmer. 

Artists on show will include Abdul Shokoor Khasrawe and Dr Yousof Asefi from Afghanistan; Abdus Shakoor Shah and Murtaja Baseer from Bangladesh; Tshewang Tenzin from Bhutan; Anjana Mehra, Anupam Sud, Jatin Das, S. Harshavardhana, Shamshad Husain and Yogendra Tripathi from India.

 

Where: India International Centre, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi

When: October 10-24

 

Theatre

Theatre for change: Kamani Auditorium will be showcasing Jug Jug Jiyo, play that revolves around the story of two women who had the courage to give birth to their daughters against all odds. Packed with sharp wit, the play is a dark comedy that follows an intense narrative. Directed by Smita Bharti, Jug Jug Jiyo is a simple yet entertaining play on the celebration of the girl child. The play stars Mita Vashist, Dolly Ahluwaliya Tewari, Jyotsna Sharma and Amit Dolawat.

 

Where: Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi

When: October 11, 6:30 pm

 

Kolkata

 

Films

French comedy: French Alliance Francaise  will be screening Le Harve, a 2011 French comedy drama directed by Aki Kaurismaki. The film is a warmhearted portrait of the French harbor city of Le Havre. Fate throws young African refugee Idrissa (Blondin Miguel) into the path of Marcel Marx (André Wilms), a well-spoken bohemian who works as a shoeshiner. With innate optimism and the unwavering support of his community, Marcel stands up to officials doggedly pursuing the boy for deportation. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.

 

Where: Alliance Francaise du Bengale, AJC Bose Road, Kolkata

When: October 15-16, 6 pm

 

Theatre

Revolutionary verses: Mad About Drama presents With Love, Calcutta, a play that revolves around a city that is more than three hundred-years-old. Co-written by Aritra Sengupta and Ayanti Ghosh, the play is loosely inspired by the narrative style of the movie Paris, I love you. It is an amalgamation of several small plays, which move back and forth between Kolkata and Calcutta, between people and memories, between old meetings and new partings, between strangers and their stranger tales, and in turn tells us the story of how people make a city, more than a city making its people. 

 

Where: Gyan Mancha, Camac Street, Kolkata 

When: October 16, 6 pm

 

Bangalore

 

Theatre

The big city life:Girish Karnad and Primetime Theatre Productions present Boiled Beans On Toast, a play that traces the interwoven lives of half a dozen people who have opted to live in the city of Bangalore. They are very different from each other, belonging to widely divergent social strata and from widely separated geographical corners. Directed by Lillete Dubey, the play is about how they try to deal with modern city life and the challenges it throws at them in several ways. Anyone familiar with life in a modern Indian metropolis will instantly respond to this portrayal of urban aspirations, conflict, blind groping and violence.

 

Where: Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Vyakikaval, Bangalore

When: October 16, 7:30 pm

Info: Tickets at Rs.750-1500

 

Shakespearean influences: Paradigm Shift and The Arshinagar Project, Kolkata present If It Be Now - Fragments and Impressions of Hamlet, a solo act by Arka Mukhopadhyay. The piece is based on the famous play by Shakespeare and works by Boris Pasternak, Heiner Muller, Jan Kott and others. It looks at an utterly human Hamlet, trapped inside a prison of words and trying to find light in the darkness. In effect, it is a passion play that tries to find illumination out of darkness.

 

Where: Paradigm Shift, Koramangala, Bangalore

When: October 9-10. 7:30 pm

 

Art

Self-reflective art: Galleryske presents Metaphysical Gravity, a solo exhibition of installation, video and kinetic sculpture by Tahireh Lal. Metaphysical Gravity refers to the invisible forces at work in the embodied experience of international migration. Through self-reflective art practice, Lal thinks about the idea of home in the context of contemporary mobility. As any mobility has its immobile counterpart, she views movement and stasis as mutually coexistent.

 

Where: Galleryske, Berlie Street, Bangalore

When: October 11-November 22