MUMBAI Beginning November 3, the Prithvi Theatre and the Jamshed Bhabha Theatre will be the hotbed of some serious theatre activity. Twelve plays conceptualised and produced in 36 hours, William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure and a tribute to Vijay Tendulkar are just some highlights of the Prithvi Theatre Festival 2005.

PICTURE SPEAK

A scene from Complicite's Measure for Measure

After 31 festivals and 27 years, Prithvi continues to share the stage with established and upcoming theatre artistes who will be presenting the plays in Hindi, English and Marathi. As for firsts, there is Theatremania. It is an exciting programme of homegrown theatre in its raw, rugged, youthful and energetic avatar, explains Sanjna Kapoor, the force behind Prithvi. "It is a risky and an experimental exploration," she adds.

The mania is best explained by 36 Ghante, which is produced by Shernaz Patel, Rahul da Cunha and Rajit Kapur. It will have 12 playwrights creating 12 plays of 10 minutes each. These will then be directed by 12 directors with 48 actors. All the plays will be conceptualised and produced within 36 hours. Also a part of Theatremania is the celebration of Tendulkar and his works. So November 6 will see a reading of his sole English play, His Fifth Woman, the dramatisation of his journalistic writings and enactment of his plays like Ramprahar and Amchyavar Kon Prem Karnat.

The UK contemporary theatre troupe Complicite's production of Shakespeare's dark comedy, Measure for Measure, is what makes this year's Prithvi Theatre Festival truly special. "The interesting thing about Complicite is that it has crossed the unbridgeable bridge between experimental and mainstream theatre," says Kapoor. Known for its sophisticated works, the 21-year-old theatre troupe weaves theatre with technology.

From the theatrical genius of Complicite to the talent of the local troupes, Kapoor confesses that the festival offers a selfish choice of plays. "It has content that we at Prithvi want to see," she says. Get ready for the mania. Till November 11.

-By Vanita Singh

HANUMAN
Director: V.G. Samant

George Bernard Shaw once uncharitably compared a woman's preaching to "a dog walking on his hind legs. It is not done well, but you are surprised to find it done at all". The same could be said of an animated Hindi feature film. It compares feebly with the best of the genre like Finding Nemo, but there is so little children's cinema produced in India that Hanuman must be applauded as a first step. It is engrossing in parts, but there is so much to narrate that Samant scrambles to squeeze the story into a screenplay. Still, Hanuman is a welcome break from the Pokemon masters who currently rule the cartoon universe.

-By Anupama Chopra

PICTURE SPEAK

A fashion show will mark the perfume's launch

DELHI It is not every day that the capital gets doused in Parisian haute couture. Doused, because the brand is best known for Marilyn Monroe announcing that she only wore "No. 5 to bed". Yes, we are talking Chanel, and Delhiites can now embark on their own love affair with the perfume. On October 29, the House of Chanel will be launched in India, with a haute couture show featuring foreign and desi models, who will showcase Karl Lagerfeld's designs. Looks like it will be an 18-karat show.

-By Sushmita Choudhury

PICTURE SPEAK

NIRMAL VERMA 1929-2005

If there was ever a writer who straddled the dark, deep schism between India and Bharat, it was Nirmal Verma, who died in Delhi on October 25. Verma's life and writings-five novels, eight collections of short stories and nine books of essays and travelogues-addressed the post-colonial discourse between western materialistic philosophies (beginning with Marxism) and the inherent spirituality in Indian thought and culture.

Though he went to St. Stephen's College in Delhi and lived in Europe and America, Verma wrote almost entirely in Hindi, having begun the Nayi Kahani (the new short story) movement with his very first collection of short stories, Parinde, in 1959. Soon he joined the Oriental Institute in Prague, Czechoslovakia, to translate works by modern Czech writers into Hindi long before they were available in English to Indian readers. Over the years his own works were translated into English, Russian, German, Polish, French and Italian.

Younger brother of renowned painter Ram Kumar, Verma was close to contemporary painters like the late J. Swaminathan, and later found a great admirer in M.F. Husain. A member of the Communist Party of India, he resigned in 1956 when the Soviets took over Hungary. Politically, Verma was agitated during the Emergency and remained a staunch anti-establishment voice.

Notwithstanding his international exposure-and acclaim-Verma was passionate about Hindi and "Indianness" and located most of his novels and stories in urban, middle-class India. While Lal Tin Ki Chhat and Cheerhon Pe Chandni alluded to his love for his birthtown Shimla, Maya Darpan and Jalti Jhari depicted the alienation of the 1960s generation. In his essays and reportages he turned to culture ("Bharat Aur Europe: Pratishruti ke Kshetra") and art ("Kala Ka Jokhim"). Verma was awarded India's highest literary honours, the Jnanpeeth Award and the Fellowship of the Sahitya Akademi.

-By S. Kalidas

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