‘At times, artistes have also had to face several challenges from entitled patrons and ill-mannered sponsors, with little or no empathy for the arts… And politicians very often feature prominently in the list of offenders in the category of program-poopers and spoilers.’ Ruffians at play.
Kolkata duo Sourendro-Soumyojit’s ‘Jaya Hey 2.0’, which re-imagines the national anthem, is a fitting musical tribute celebrating the 75th year of India’s Independence, featuring 75 artistes from across the country.
August’s rain-swept bouquet offers the masterful Kanishka Raja’s immediately recognisable work, along with collections featuring up-and-comers.
‘Generations have sought out Higginbothams to come to the rescue: for a particular, hard-to-find reference or text book. We believed that if you couldn’t find it at Higginbothams, you will not find it anywhere else. In many ways. Higginbothams was to us what the Internet is to today’s millennials — the largest known collection of knowledge.’ A Chennai legacy.
‘When I came home to Dehradun that winter, the worst of the conflict was over. I was thirteen, born in India of British and Anglo-Indian parents. No one ever molested me, not in Delhi, not in Dehra. Now I strolled across our extensive maidaan, to one of our cinemas. The film was called ‘Blossoms in the Dust’.’
‘I see bright young people everywhere, very often I begin a conversation with the person who is driving my car, and their views are sharp, their understanding of politics is more nuanced than several people I meet socially. This is the wealth that makes me think that for India, the best is yet to come.’
Mridul Toolsidass’ 2022 film ‘Toolsidas Junior’ has a protagonist in its very locale: Calcutta of the 1990s. The National Award-winning film, which revolves around the game of snooker as a metaphor for life, stars Rajiv ‘Chimpu’ Kapoor and Sanjay Dutt. A conversation with the filmmaker.
‘Generations of classical musicians have had to come up with different strategies and efforts to be featured in concerts and festivals, because it is only a handful of star musicians who find themselves inundated with concert offers. Others must fend for themselves, and have done so for ages.’
The backdrop of moody July skies seems to echo a kaleidoscope of visual art that Kolkata spaces offer this month, from the compelling human stories of Bangladesh-based photojournalist-activist Shahidul Alam, to a comprehensive retrospective of Somnath Hore, to ebullient colours that mark a Gond ritual of tree worship. July 2022, in Kolkata art spaces.
‘Harlem at that time was known as an African-American neighbourhood, but also home to many Asians and Latinos. It was a neighbourhood into which men like Habib could disappear… “It’s important to emphasise that at a time when the United States as a nation had rejected Asian immigrants and criminalised their entry into the country,…’ The story of Bengali immigrants in America.
‘For the believer, myth is real; it is sacred. This allows the myth to be communicated across generation and geography without distortion. Myth, however, is not static. Just as it informs history and geography, it is informed by history and geography. This is why beliefs and customs change over time.’
I’ve always felt Sourav Ganguly was part of that pioneering generation that built this new India. Helping break the shackles of socialism, fear, apologies, and lack of entrepreneurial spirit, into what became/ has become a fierce global powerhouse. Whatever followed from there, the calculating genius of Dhoni, the energy of Kohli, it all began with Ganguly.
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