Prithvi Festival 2019: Bone of Contention is a motor-mouth hysterical farce, as the crow flies
A comedy is what you would automatically expect from a theatre group that calls itself FATS theARTS, and a comedy it is. A farce to be precise. A nod to Molière, the full name of the play seen on 09 November at Prithvi Theatre was Bone of Contention in Cosmopolitan Co-Operative Housing Society. That’s quite a mouthful, and every character in the play had a mouthful to offer, over the 90...
Final day of Sanhita’s theatre festival: Language of Hindustani theatre, and ode to an iconic Hindi poet
August 17 marked the end of the three-day Natya Mahotsav (theatre festival) organised by Sanhita Manch, an initiative of Being Association, at the P.L. Deshpande Auditorium at the Ravindra Natya Mandir Complex in central Mumbai. The festival included several interactive sessions and staging of three Hindi/Urdu plays selected from 77 entries. Held for the second year in succession, th...
Shashi Kapoors don’t die: Part II
The second and concluding part of a personal tribute to the great man.
It has not come soon, as you might have expected. My apologies. Too much was happening. But here we are, talking about a good actor and a great human being. Shashi Kapoor still lives.
In his day, was a star. And like many in the media, he loved good music. So, my friends and I were not really surprised to spot him leaving the hall after a Runa Laila live performance at Birla Matush...
Shashi Kapoors don’t die: Part I
Showbiz is often cruel, usually ruthless. It takes so many factors to make it as an actor, luck or lineage included. Then, you need to stay on, weather flops and hits, and keep grabbing opportunities, in the hope that the next one will do it for you. Son of Prithviraj Kapoor, Balbir (Shashi) Raj Kapoor had done his bit of drama at his Papajee’s Prithvi Theatre, like his two older brothers (Ranbir) Raj Kapoor and Shamsher (Shammi) Raj Kapoor. They h...
Shashi Kapoor gone? What a huge loss!
Nine years ago, the Pune International Film Festival honoured Shashi Kapoor with a Life-time Achievement Award. He had already suffered a stroke and could only mumble, yet his presence lit up the auditorium. I felt privileged to have contributed his profile to the official brochure of the festival, but a tear ran down my cheek as he was given the award. As the news of his passing away came in an hour ago, I felt deeply distraught. We had worked together i...
