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Actor Neil Bhoopalam, who plays one of the clowns in The Natak Company’s Hamlet: The Clown Prince, shares his thoughts on performing in different mediums and what it means to be an intelligent performer in present times Neil Bhoopalam sees himself as a performer. But he is also an interesting storyteller and comes up with analogies when asked to describe his work or his preferred medium of work. The actor, who did an impressive job in 24 teleseries, will be in the city on Saturday to take part in The Natak Company’s Shakespeare Comedy Theatre’s play, Hamlet: The Clown Prince. When asked about his thoughts on playing a clown, the actor quips, “I am a clown by nature, so it’s good fun. In our country, we don’t have the culture of clowning. But if you go to Israel or England, it is a proper act, like we have the Ramlila act over here.” Neil plays Fido, a clown, who is not “very bright.” He shares the stage with a few more clowns and one of them is Hamlet played by Vinay Pathak, who

Arundhati Ghosh, executive director, India Foundation For the Arts, explains how art and commerce can complement each other and how we can individually support art and artists. For someone who worked in the corporate world, before joining the India Foundation For the Arts (IFA) as a fund raiser, Arundhati Ghosh believes that the relationship between commerce and art should be one of support. Ghosh, who was in the city last week, at the invitation of Sahitya Rangbhumi Pratishthan, for the felicitation of theatre playwright Sunil Shanbag, emphatically says that art and commerce can go together. Quitting corporate life Ghosh’s resume says that she has a degree in dance and is also a published poet in Bangla. However, she refuses the label of an artist and says, “Being a dancer doesn’t make me an artist. I haven’t dedicated my life to dance or poetry, so I don’t have the courage to call myself an artist. Over a period of time, I have developed a sense of what arts can do and what t

The favourite festival of Maharashtra, has seen major changes over the years. Ambika Shaligram speaks to people from the other parts of the state to find out how they are trying to give more depth to the celebrations The favourite festival of Maharashtra, has seen major changes over the years. Ambika Shaligram speaks to people from the other parts of the state to find out how they are trying to give more depth to the celebrations What began as a means to bring together people from all walks of life to build national spirit, has deviated to become more of an entertainment spectacle today. And yet, there are many, who are optimistic that better sense will prevail in the celebrations of Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav, which was started by nationalist leader, Bal Gangadhar Tilak in 1893. Pune being the city where the festivities first started, it has a special place in the hearts of devotees. For this story, we decided to step out of the city and see what’s happening in the other parts o

Chatting up brand consultant and advertising veteran Kartik Kompella who has come up with a slick, fast paced book titled A Pitch for Love. Set in the realm of advertising, A Pitch for Love (HarperCollins), is funny, wicked and deliciously gossipy about the going-ons in Leapfrog, a Mumbai company. It is also very ‘insider-ish’, so laypersons like us will learn how big deals are cracked, what professional rivalries can lead to and the sleeping around (or not) that comes along with it. It is in this world that Prachi and Drona collide and learn to lean on each other, trust and then eventually fall in love. Brand consultant, Kartik Kompella, who has worked in advertising for several years, tells us more about his protagonists and how he wrote their story. Was it important to be on a safe footing for your first novel and that’s why you chose to set it in the world of advertising, which you are familiar with? My first novel was a noir thriller which I never showed to a publisher. It

Preeti Shenoy, who was in the city recently to launch her new book, The Rule Breakers, tells us why we don’t need someone to make us happy As the story progresses, you find yourself rooting for Veda, a quintessentially, small town Indian girl of the ’90s, who gives up on her dreams to fulfill her parents’ wishes. At the end, she writes to her sister, that she may have lost the love of her life, but has found herself! A realistic story well written is what we tell Preeti Shenoy, author of The Rule Breakers. Shenoy agrees and says, “I am satisfied with the book. The Rule Breakers was a difficult book to write. It took me five drafts. There’s so much happening in the book. There’s the danger of the subplot taking over the main plot, but we managed.” Published by Westland, it is Shenoy’s 11th book, and already a sequel is brewing in the author’s head. At the moment, however, she is basking in the praise of the early reviews for the book. In Pune to launch her latest work, Shenoy e

Actors Sanjay Dadhich and Aahna Kumra, who are performing in Sir, Sir, Sarla play, express their thoughts on the characters Sir, Sir, Sarla, Makarand Deshpande’s longest running play, is going to be staged on Friday evening in the city. The play opened in 2001 with Anurag Kashyap, Sonali Kulkarni and Makarand playing the lead characters. Over the years, Makarand wrote two more parts. In the show at Pune, Sir, Sir...will have part one and a portion from part two in it. The play, which reopened in 2012, now has Sanjay Dadhich, Faisal Rashid, Aahana Kumra and Makarand playing the main roles. Talking about the play, Dadhich says, “I am playing Phanidhar, who is in love with Sarla. Both of them and Keshav are Hindi literature students of Palekar Sir. Sarla is in love with Palekar Sir, but he says that it’s ethically wrong and on his insistence, she gets married to another student. Phanidhar is a little angry with Sir saying that he could have helped him win Sarla’s love.” The play

Sushmita Jha & Ambika Shaligram Debutant director Rahi Anil Barve and producer-actor Sohum Shah share many stories about their recently released horror-fantasy Tumbbad If a film’s baap is mainstream and ma is experimental, you get the best of both worlds, a balanced movie!”quips Rahi Anil Barve. Sohum Shah, the producer and actor of Rahi’s first feature-length movie, Tumbbad, laughs uproariously at this and adds, “This is a very good line. I am the producer and the baap, Rahi is the mother, who has come up with a fantastic, never-seen-before subject in Indian cinema.” Sohum then proceeds to tell us how he almost leapt off the seat, when he heard the script and decided to come on board almost immediately, giving a new lease of life to Tumbbad, which had been in the making since 2008. The film released this Friday, October 12. “The moment I heard the story I was all in for it because the story is very Indian and takes you back to the stories that your grandparents told you

Journalist Rituparna Chatterjee, who writes on press freedom, gender rights, and social disparity, talks about initiating #sisterhood thread and its necessity. To the tweeple, she is @masalabai, who speaks her mind bravely, calling out cavalier attitude of men, a staunch supporter for gender rights. In July, Rituparna Chatterjee started the #sisterhood thread on twitter so that women in the media can avail of job opportunities. Chatterjee, who is currently the India correspondent for international press freedom watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, is also keen to mentor the young recruits in media, hoping to prepare a generation of better journalists. Here she talks about #sisterhood and what it means to help women speak and voice their thoughts In earlier interviews you have mentioned that men find new jobs because of the whisper network and that was one reason you started the #sisterhood thread, and also because whenever you had to discuss something or needed support, you turne

Conversations — so important in today’s times, yet so few and far between. Ambika Shaligram talks to people to find out how to start a conversation and ensure that we listen ‘well’ Have you recently attended a family gathering where everyone seemed to be oh-so-busy checking mails and WhatsApp messages and updating their status on various social media accounts? When someone you know has gone through a harrowing period, or has been bereaved and grieving, how do you reach out to them? What words will sum up your empathy? Why are we finding it difficult to converse with people? Why can’t we listen to them speak, and later if it really merits, add a line or two of our own? Here we chat with a few people to find out how to break the ice and start a conversation, and how to ensure that it doesn’t become stilted. Where strangers meet... Neha and Vishal Pipraiya were backpacking abroad when they met. In the towns that they visited, they found these small cafes which were cosy and i

Chatting up filmmaker Rahul Riji Nair whose debut feature film Light in the Room has been shortlisted for Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival’s Gold section. An engineer-turned-filmmaker, Rahul Riji Nair decided to make his first feature film on marital rape. Titled Light in the Room, the film is the recipient of the Kerala State Film Award. It has also been shortlisted in the Gold section of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival that starts from October 25. We chat with Nair to know why he decided to turn to filmmaking and how he is learning to balance the commerce with the arts. You are an engineer, but you eventually turned to filmmaking. Can you tell us about the influence that the arts have on you? I was brought up in a time, when most of the youngsters either wanted to be an engineer or a doctor. I was also a part of the flow. I chose to go for engineering because it was the easier option in front of me. After that, I did my MBA and took up employment in an IT firm as a marketing man

We catch up with romance novelist Nikita Singh, who was in the city to promote her latest book, Letters to My Ex Haven’t we all had friends, couples-so-much-in-love, who develop cold feet at the last moment and then call off the nuptials? This is also the story of Nidhi and Abhay; Nidhi calls off her engagement, leaving Abhay without a clue of what she is thinking. Unable to say things aloud, Nidhi starts writing letters to Abhay. But doesn’t post them. Nikita Singh’s Letters to My Ex allows her protagonists to think, ponder and come to terms with the baggage that is bogging them down. The New York-based author was in the city to promote her book, published by HarperCollins. We caught up with the author, who works as a social media manager for a solar manufacturing company. And, moonlights as a romance novelist. More about the book... You have said in the book that it was easier to get into Nidhi’s head. Is she like you? Nidhi is not like me. We share some common traits thou

Chatting up journalist Vivek Sabnis, who has brought out the second edition of Pune Nostalgia calendar, which has some rare photos of the city The reason I call myself a documentary photographer is the idea of how photographs contain and participate in history,” says Catherine Opie, an American artist. Journalist Vivek Sabnis might not have harboured the same idea when he went about collecting old photographs of the city he was born and brought up in. But as Sabnis’ collection grew and he put them together into two pictorial calendars – Pune Nostalgia (2017 and 2018), he hopes that they will serve in documenting the city’s history. “For the month of March, we have chosen Vasant Talkies image, which completes seven decades this year. When the picture was clicked in 1975, the talkies was screening Amitabh Bachchan-Shashi Kapoor-starrer Deewar. Outside the theatre, you can see a stack of cycles — a testimony to the city’s badge — Cyclincha Shahar or a City of Bicycles. In four d

Interestingly, people living on the either side of the river bed are known for their quirks. Ambika Shaligram meets a few residents of the Cantonment area who share colourful anecdotes about their neighbourhood, which recently observed 200 years of its formation Do the sepia toned images remind you of an era gone by? But they are also historically significant — one image is of MG Road, Camp and another of an iconic landmark, Manney’s bookstore, which closed down six years ago. The other establishment in the image is of Royal Hotel which downed its shutters several decades ago. These images are from journalist Vivek Sabnis’ collection and have now been used in Pune Dinadarshika or Pune Nostalgia calendar 2018. The images are significant for another reason. In November 2017, we observed the 200 years of formation of Camp or Pune Cantonment. ‘Observed’ because that also marked the end of the Peshwai rule. Till early 2000, Camp was the ‘it’ place to be. Those who lived on the oth

Surely, this will elicit laughter or maybe a stunned expression to say the least — a guy attends a spoken word poetry session and talks of Kacchi Dabeli, and how it didn’t work up his appetite. That’s Omkar Rege, a stand-up comedian and a passionate writer, working in a digital media company. During his stand-up comedy act, organised by BhaDiPa (Bharatiya Digital Party) on International Women’s Day in Pune, Omkar turned to Dabeli again; apps that deliver our food and keep us updated every second, to remind us that ‘your delivery is on its way’. We catch up with him to know more about his writing, poetry and ingenious humour. From working class to comedy Omkar, who hails from Goa, calls himself a ‘working class guy’ and turned to stand-up comedy slowly and steadily. “I loved being funny from my core. But I never thought I would actually go out there and do it. I always wanted a stable job, doing the stuff that I liked, which was writing,” says he. Considering that Omkar is

Maati is happy for her friend, Sulakshana who is pregnant within five months of marriage. “When will it be my turn?” She wants an answer to her question. This is the plotline of the Hindi play, Maati, directed by Mahesh Dattani. It is an adaptation of the original Spansish drama, Yerma, by Federico Garcia Lorca. It will be staged in Pune at Sudarshan Rangmanch by students of The Drama School, Mumbai (DSM). We chat up with Dattani about Maati, questions of abundance versus scarcity of land and what it means to be a ‘proper’ woman. Excerpts... When did you first see or read Yerma? I first saw a play by Lorca when I was in my early 20s. It was directed by Ebrahim Alkazi. The play was The House of Bernarda Alba translated as Din Ke Andhere. It was a brilliant interpretation with powerful actors in the cast. I read Lorca’s rural trilogy at least a decade later and was completely taken up by Blood Wedding. At some point, a well-known theatre actress in Bengaluru suggested that I dir

Ashwin Sanghi’s Keepers of the Kalachakra, published by Westland, has hit the stands. The author in a tete-e-tete with us, explains the various strands of the stories explored in the book. Anyone who has read Ashwin Sanghi knows that the author links together politics, theology, mythology, economics and politics in a page-turner book. His latest, Keepers of the Kalachakra is no different, where he talks about quantum physics and spirituality (and making it amazingly simple to understand) in bringing out another best-seller. Ahead of his Pune visit to promote the book, we catch up with Sanghi. Excerpts from the conversation: How was the book written — in the non-linear format — the way we read it? It was initially written in linear fashion and then sliced and presented in a non-linear format. Given that the book was about Kalachakra or the wheel of time, I did not wish to present the story as a straight line progression. When you are writing about various periods of history

On World Autism Awareness Day, we speak with the families of autistic kids who explain the challenges they face while rearing their young ones About Autism Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurological and developmental disorder that begins early in childhood and lasts throughout a person’s life. It affects how a person acts and interacts with others, communicates, and learns. It is called a ‘spectrum’ disorder because people with ASD can have a range of symptoms. For instance, they may have problems in communication, or they do not maintain eye contact. They may also have restricted interests and repetitive behaviour. They may spend a lot of time putting things in order, or they may say the same sentence again and again. They may often seem to be in their ‘own world’. The causes of ASD are not known. Research suggests that both genes and environment play important roles. There is currently no one standard treatment for ASD. There are many ways to increase your child’s abi