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BY DOLCY D’CRUZ HERALD FEATURES eldom would one think that things like sieves, Kolhapuri slippers, Paduka slippers and mushrooms would ever make it to a canvas, but that is exactly what happened in Smruti Shirsat’s exhibition, titled, In Tandem. After exhibiting their works together last year in their exhibition ‘Harmony’, Smruti Shirsat and Claudio Fiori exhibited their paintings in an exhibition titled ‘In Tandem’ at the Kala Academy Art Gallery. The gallery is filled with canvases adorned with coir, small stick brooms, rice, palm leaves, lending a very Indian look to the exhibition. Smruti Shirsat, a gold medalist in Fine Arts from Goa College of Art, took her passion seriously and started exhibiting her works over the state. At this exhibition, she is displaying 27 paintings with materials that are often overlooked. “I find these things very interesting. Most of the time, we don’t see the beauty in them. I tried to bring out this very beauty in my paintings. At the same time, this gives us an opportunity to identify with our culture instead of turning a blind eye. All the things used in the paintings are special but I like the sieve the most. Most of the paintings have concepts while few are semi-abstract,” says Smruti. She has used acrylic on can-
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vas and oil paints on canvas but in a few places, she has even used a palm leaf mat as a canvas. On the other hand, Italian artist Claudio Fiori has been inspired by India and Indians. He has used charcoal, pastels, oil pastels, watercolours and even digital works to create portraits of a few people he met in his travels in India. “I first came to India in 1986 and I fell in love with the people. I had come here because of the Indian philosophy and not for painting. I had a few questions which I thought the Vedas would be able to answer. Till now my questions are unanswered but my paintings give me inspiration, maybe that’s the way of answering.” A few of Claudio’s paintings will also be exhibited at the Louvre Art Gallery in Paris on October 23. “I send the paintings to my sister and she exhibits them in France very frequently,” adds Claudio. ‘In Tandem’ was inaugurated by Ramakant Khalap, Chairman of Goa State Law Commission and will be open to the public till October 24, 2010.
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Saturday, 23 Oct 2010
Interesting Artistry ‘In Tandem’
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Dastakari Haat – a Cultural Extravaganza I
HERALD FEATURES ndia is a land rich in art and craft and this comes to the fore in the various craft fairs. The Dastakari Haat Crafts Festival in the International Centre Goa, which was inaugurated by Pratapsingh Rane and Vijayadevi Rane, is one such splash of colour and talent showcasing crafts from the length and breadth of the country. The exhibition includes a wide range of hand-embellished textiles, contemporary crafts and traditional artists. From the ‘Bhadohi’ basket from UP, the Wooden ‘Kavad’ from Rajasthan and the ‘Kauna’ baskets from Manipur to the works of Papier Machie and the ‘Ajrak’ Print, from Gujarat, the exhibition transports you to through the various cultures India houses. Dastakari Haat, apart from providing an exhil-
BY CEDRIC DA COSTA here was a flurry of activity at Margao’s PJN Stadium as team India took to the nets this evening. However, captain M S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh choose to remain absent. Fans thronged the stadium in the evening to catch a glimpse of their star cricketers. Earlier in the day, the Australian cricket team too had a rigorous practice session. The third ODI between team India and Australia, to be held at Margao will be the series decider. But will the weather gods permit the spectators to get their money’s worth and more…
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arating shopping experience, also includes various workshops in the morning which will give people insight into the techniques behind the art and influences of the various cultures across the country, thus providing an excellent learning opportunity to students, designers, artists to share ideas. The craft festival is brought to Goa by the Dastakari Haat Samiti, a national association of crafts people from across India and helps in design development and promotes the use of handwork to sustain livelihoods and India’s cultural heritage.
Coach Gary Kirsten: Its pack up boys
Team India takes to the Nets but... Will the Rains play Spoilt Sport
Photos by Cedric da Costa
Net practice in full swing as Gary Kirsten bowls to Saurav Tiwari (above), doing final touches at the stadium entrance (extreme left) and (below) art boy Kedar Gaonkar from Shiroda repaints the number plates used for the scoreboard
Photos by Rozario Estibeiro
The strong police force take guard to ensure a trouble free match on Sunday and Pravin Kumar obliges some very young fans with autographs
MOVIE REVIEW Rakta Charitra-I
Cast: Vivek Oberoi, Surya Sivakumar, Priyamani Director: Ram Gopal Varma Rating: young man gets drawn into a blood curdling saga of revenge after members of his family are killed in cold blood by power hungry politicians. The young man not only avenges their death but in the process, becomes a messiah for the downtrodden. Rakta Charitra deals with emotionally volatile people and is set in a rural environment. It tells the story of Paritala Ravi (Vivek Oberoi), a soft-spoken person, who took law in his hands to avenge the murders of his father and brother. Paritala Ravi’s name soon sends shivers up the spines of not only his rivals, but even the law enforcement agencies. He rises to become a minister eventually. The first part ends with his undertaking a mission to end goonda raj in the state. The manner in which the incidents unfold keep you hooked. Of course, it’s a vendetta fare, yet one is keen to fathom what essentially provoked a soft-spoken individual to transform into a killing machine. The sequences between Shatrughan Sinha and Vivek are, frankly, the preeminent and most excellent parts of the enterprise. Cinematography by Amol Rathod catches your eye and the action scenes are true to life. On the negative side, barring the incidents in the initial reels, there’s not much movement in the story in the first hour. The murderous saga of revenge and counter-revenge begins with momentum but then gets bogged down by its repetitive mayhem, an annoying voice-over and exhausting decibel levels. Having said that, Vivek Oberoi breathes fire and venom and comes across as the most appropriate actor to infuse life into the character he portrays. He’s super efficient and his act in Company and Shootout At Lokhandwala pale in comparison. Shatrughan Sinha is remarkable and Abhimanyu Singh is superb as the opponent. The rest of the cast too are excellent in their respective parts. On the whole Rakta Charitra is exceptional but not for the faint-hearted.
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Jhootha Hi Sahi
Cast: John Abraham, Pakhi Tyrewala, Raghu Ram Director: Abbas Tyrewala Rating:
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etraying the heroine by acquiring someone else’s identity or concealing one’s own in order to win her heart is old hat as far as Bollywood formulas go. Sadly, Abbas Tyrewala’s new offering Jhootha Hi Sahi falls flat for this reason as well as several others. When Siddharth (John Abraham) wakes up one night to a call from a desperate man threatening to jump out of the window, he isn’t prepared for what lies ahead; a mixed-up phone number, a desi suicide helpline in London and various callers demanding that Sid give them a reason to live. Until one fateful night, Mishka (Pakhi) calls and they both discover an unlikely bond. Sid becomes her nameless friend; her faceless philosopher. And she becomes his reason to rethink about life. Along the way, he also lies to her about his exciting adventures and daring escapades. But then Sid falls in love with her, but how can he tell her the truth? That he’s just a simple bookseller with a simple life? Like most rom-coms, the film is pretty predictable but clicks mainly for its syrupy writing and the tongue-in-cheek one-liners. Like in his last film Jaane Tu Ya Jaane. Abbas builds up good chemistry between the eclectic group of friends having different country origin and sexual orientations. Unfortunately, the writing is flaccid and the prime reason why the film fails to register an impact. John makes a sincere attempt to look the part, but he’s awkward, especially in sequences when he stammers. As for Pakhi, she is a complete miscast and looks too matured with quite a few limitations as an actor. Amongst the others, Raghu Ram is noticeable. Manasi Scott is decent and all the other characters including Anaitha Nair, Prahsant Chawla and George Young are excellent in their small roles. Jhootha Hi Sahi is only for die-hard Abraham fans. If you are not among them, skip this one. Courtesy www.cinecurry.com